Florida Panthers ‘Thrilled' To Re-Sign Sam Bennett To Big Eight-Year Deal
The Florida Panthers kept Sam Bennett away from NHL free agency.
They re-signed the Conn Smythe Trophy winner to an eight-year extension at an $8 million average annual value.
Bennett, 29, was projected to be one of the top centers available in free agency if he was unsigned by July 1. Instead, he's not leaving the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
His new deal includes a no-move clause for the first five years of the contract, followed by a limited no-trade clause for the final three years, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. His contract will expire after the 2032-33 season, when he will be 37 years old.
Bennett made his intentions clear that he wanted to remain a Panther during the team's post-Cup celebrations.
'I ain't f-----g leaving,' Bennett said into the microphone, referencing Leonardo DiCaprio's famous line from the movie Wolf of Wall Street.
Now, Bennett's statement has become a reality, and the Panthers' GM couldn't be happier about keeping on the two-time Stanley Cup champion.
'Sam is a special player who has mastered a unique blend of skill and physicality in his game, becoming one of the most impactful postseason performers of his generation,' Panthers GM Bill Zito said in a news release. 'He played an integral role in our two Stanley Cup championships, earning the franchise's first Conn Smythe Trophy and is a dedicated contributor to our South Florida community off the ice. We are thrilled that he will continue his career with the Panthers.'
Out of his 11 years in the NHL, the 29-year-old arguably played his best this past season. He recorded a career-high 51 points in the regular season with 25 goals and 26 assists.
However, his playoff performance likely played a big part in his new cap hit. Bennett led the NHL in post-season goals with 15, ending the Cup run with 22 points in 23 appearances.
With Bennett being the latest center to sign an extension with his team, the UFA market for a middleman becomes even thinner. John Tavares, Matt Duchene and Brock Nelson were also all pending UFA centers who re-signed with their respective teams.
Some pending UFA pivots who remain unsigned include Mikael Granlund and Pius Suter.
The Panthers kept Bennett from being possibly the top UFA center by giving him the priciest and longest contract in his career. But Zito can't relax just yet. Left winger Brad Marchand and defenseman Aaron Ekblad also require new contracts before Tuesday's free agency opener, or else they can sign with another squad.
Get thelatest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and bysubscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting belowthe article on THN.com.
Copyright 2025 The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
42 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Chase Elliott's Atlanta win takes away chance to earn a playoff spot for some drivers
HAMPTON, Ga. — On a night when opportunity opened for so many drivers outside a playoff spot, hope faded away in the blur of Chase Elliott's car. And so goes one less chance to make the playoffs for Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Zane Smith. Nate Ryan, All entered Saturday night's race at EchoPark Speedway outside a playoff spot. Jones was the closest to the cutline and he was more than one race's worth of points back. While there's a chance those drivers can point their way into the playoffs with eight races left in the regular season, the reality is they need to win. Saturday night was set to be that chance. Until it wasn't. Smith led with eight laps left. Stenhouse passed him and led with seven laps to go. Keselowski got by him and led the next five laps. Chase Elliott passed him for the victory on the final lap. 'Every loss sucks,' Keselowski said after finishing second. Keselowski is so far back in the points that he needs to win to make the playoffs. But he didn't have much of a chance on that last lap. Elliott's teammate, Alex Bowman — who entered the night on the playoff cutline — was in third place and gave Elliott a push down the frontstretch as the field took the white flag. 'If he and I did anything but push one another in that situation, we were handing the race to Brad,' Elliott said. That momentum helped Elliott dive to the inside of Keselowski's car and pass him in Turn 1. Bowman challenged Keselowski for second as Elliott pulled away for the popular win at his home track. 'There's races where you can do things different and there's races where you can't,' Keselowski said. There was not much he could do going against the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates. A key moment in the race came when Keselowksi's teammate, Chris Buescher, who had been running second to his boss, lost second to Smith at Lap 237 of the 260-lap race. Buescher then fell to fourth two laps later. He soon fell out of the top five and could not provide Keselowski any help the rest of the race. Without a teammate, Keselowski was exposed to the big moves that cars could make on the 1.54-mile speedway. When Smith took the lead, he felt comfortable with the situation only a few miles from a potential first Cup victory. 'I felt like I had a good idea of how it was going to be, controlling the guy in second, how big of a run he was going to get and just trying to stall him out the best I could and pick up help,' Smith said after finishing seventh. 'I just let two guys by.' Stenhouse made a big move to go three-wide, diving down low to take the lead. 'Just didn't feel like I had enough speed to stay there,' Stenhouse said after placing sixth. 'It was going to take some massive blocks to do that.' With the big runs, that would have led to a big crash, similar to the 22-car crash that brought out the caution at Lap 70 that eliminated points leader William Byron, pole-sitter Joey Logano, Pocono winner Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. Keselowski took control and with two laps to go, he was in good shape. He had Tyler Reddick behind him, followed by Elliott, Stenhouse, Jones, who would finish fifth, and Bowman. That was a Toyota, two Chevrolets, a Toyota and another Chevrolet behind Keselowski's Ford. Had it stayed that jumbled, Keselowski might have been able to hold off his foes but Bowman went from sixth to third and Elliott went from third to second by the final lap, setting up Elliott's move. 'Honestly,' Elliott said, 'all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps.' And left Keselowski, Jones, Stenhouse and Smith still searching for that victory that gets them into the playoffs.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rangers Sign Adam Edström To Contract Extension
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The New York Rangers have agreed on a two-year contract extension with forward Adam Edström. The deal comes in at a total of $1.95 million and an average annual value of $975,000. This contract comes at the same exact value as Matt Rempe's extension that was made official just a few days ago. Advertisement Edström burst onto the scene after having a strong performance at both rookie camp and training camp as he made the Rangers' opening night roster. The 24-year-old found a consistent role on the team's fourth line and made an impact for a large part of the 2024-25 campaign. However, Edström sustained a lower-body injury on Feb. 1, which required surgery and kept him out for the remainder of the season. In 51 games, Edström recorded five goals, four assists, and nine points while averaging 9:16 minutes.
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Cup results, points after Atlanta as the playoffs add Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott became the 12th winner of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, ending a 44-race winless streak by outdueling Brad Keselowski at EchoPark Speedway south of Atlanta. Elliott, who most recently had won on April 14, 2024 at Texas Motor Speedway, became the 44th driver to reach the 20-win mark in his Cup career. It's the second win at Atlanta for the Dawsonville, Georgia, native. Keselowski, who led seven times for 46 laps, finished second by 0.168 seconds, followed by Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones, who rebounded after getting caught in two wrecks. MORE: Click here for Atlanta results l Click here for the cumulative report l Click here for the penalty report l Click here for race notes The top 10 finishers also advanced to the second round of the In-Season Challenge. Bowman is on the playoff cutline with the 16th and final provisional spot, 16 points ahead of Bubba Wallace. William Byron remains the regular-season championship leader by 37 points over Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Here's the finishing order at Atlanta: 1. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet 2. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford 3. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet 4. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota 5. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota 6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet 7. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford 8. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet 9. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford 10. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet 11. Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Chevrolet 12. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet 13. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford 14. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota 15. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford 16. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Chevrolet 17. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet 18. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet 19. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford 20. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet 21. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet 22. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota 23. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet 24. Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet 25. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford 26. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota 27. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford 28. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota 29. David Starr, No. 66 Ford 30. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota 31. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota 32. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford 33. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet 34. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet 35. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota 36. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford 37. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet 38. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford 39. Corey LaJoie, No. 01 Ford 40. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
