Bennett's signed. Now, can the Panthers wrap things up with Ekblad, Marchand?
The Florida Panthers, fresh off winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup, took care of their first major order of offseason business Friday when Sam Bennett agreed to an eight-year contract extension.
Now, can they do the same with defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Brad Marchand before free agency begins on Tuesday? That's the priority.
'My preference — and maybe I'm hoping — is that there's enough for guys to want to stay to be a part of this and be treated fairly and be happy,' Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said Saturday. 'That's the most important thing.'
Bennett was the first of the three Zito and the Panthers were able to finalize. The second-line center's deal has an average annual value of $8 million. That cuts Florida's remaining cap space to $11 million. That'll be a tight squeeze to fit Ekblad, Marchand and the salaries for a pair of restricted free agents in forward Mackie Samoskevich and backup goaltender Daniil Tarasov.
'We've been discussing all of them,' Zito said of potential deals for Marchand and Ekblad now that the Bennett deal is done. 'Everything is so intertwined. When you spend to the cap and you do it for as many years as we have and commit to as many guys as we have, the wiggle room on little things is really, really difficult. Sometimes you just have to keep at it so that you can fit everybody and keep the team and the core of the team together.'
Zito, for his part, has done an admiral job of getting the Panthers' core signed long-term. Eight Panthers players are under contract through at least the 2029-30 season.
▪ Forwards Aleksander Barkov ($10 million AAV), Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5 million AAV) and Anton Lundell ($5 million AAV) plus defenseman Seth Jones ($7 million AAV) are signed for the next five years.
▪ Forward Sam Reinhart ($8.63 million AAV) and defenseman Gustav Forsling ($5.75 million AAV) are signed for another seven years, through 2031-32.
▪ Forwards Carter Verhaeghe ($7 million AAV) and Bennett ($8 million) are inked through the 2032-33 season.
'Obviously, people talk about these players who stay, and the guys who stay generally take discounts,' Zito said. 'Look at our roster and then ask what they could be making other places. It's because they want to be part of it, and they understand it's not a financial decision to take less. Somebody asked me if I was negotiating. No. I'm mediating because we're spending it all. We're trying to get everybody happy and then if guys want to be here, we want to treat you as fairly as we can so that we can stay and we can keep the team together, because teams win.'
Bennett easily fits into that category. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs after leading the league with 15 goals — including an NHL-record 13 road goals — this postseason. That came after setting a career-high with 51 points (25 goals, 26 assists) in the regular season and winning a gold medal with Team Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off. There was speculation that he could have made north of $10 million per year if he tested free agency.
But he chose to stay in Florida, where his career has taken off after being acquired at the trade deadline in 2021.
Why?
'This is the core that's been here for the last three, four years,' Bennett said Saturday. 'We've had so much success, I don't see why we can't continue it. I think we're all so committed to the same goal of winning and doing whatever it takes, putting in the hard hours to do what it takes to win. This is the core that I want to be with.'
Ekblad, who has played for the Panthers his entire career and is coming off an eight-year deal that had a $7.5 million annual cap hit, has said he wants to stay, too. The defenseman has been with the Panthers his entire career since Florida took him No. 1 overall in 2014. His 732 career regular-season games played for the organization are second behind only Barkov. Ekblad also holds the franchise's defenseman records for games played (732), goals (118), assists (262) and points (380).
'That's part of who I am at this point,' Ekblad said on June 21, the day before the team's championship parade. 'I've spent 11 years here, and that's more than I've spent in any home or city in my life. It's home, and I expect it to be home.'
Marchand, who Florida acquired as a rental at the trade deadline and whose previous deal had an annual cap hit of $6.125 million, looked like a natural fit with the team during his three-and-a-half months here.
On the ice, he logged 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in the playoffs, including six goals in the Stanley Cup Final, and elevated Florida's third line with Lundell and winger Eetu Luostarinen.
Off the ice, he became a central figure in the dressing room with teammates who had been enemies over the past two years. He introduced himself to the team group chat with a flurry of chirps. He became the center of the postgame celebration as the team flung rubber rats at him as they left the ice. He was the leader of Dairy Queen trips on the road during the final two rounds of the playoffs.
'We'll see what happens here soon,' Marchand said after the Panthers clinched the Stanley Cup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
What big moves could be coming for the Maple Leafs on July 1?
We're down to a little more than 48 hours until free agency opens on Tuesday, and the picture is becoming a bit clearer in terms of what the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to work with. Not only is John Tavares now signed on a bargain $4.38 million cap hit, but the Leafs are also attempting to move Mitch Marner's UFA rights in a sign-and-trade deal with the Vegas Golden Knights that could return centre Nicolas Roy. Advertisement Big decisions remain on restricted free agent Matthew Knies' contract and how exactly GM Brad Treliving is going to spend the Leafs' considerable remaining cap space. Let's dig in first on what the Leafs roster looks like right now and how much financial flexibility they're going to have with the cap going up to $95.5 million next season. Here's everyone they have signed, 17 players in all, with Tavares' deal in place in the second-line centre slot. There's a little bit of a breeze over there on the left wing side, I'd say. I've slotted everyone where they were during the playoffs, rather than shift anyone up the lineup to fill holes. And Ryan Reaves has, again, been waived and demoted, freeing up most of his salary. (Reaves counts $200,000 against the cap when in the AHL.) So, this is a roster that's relatively set in goal and on defence (barring a trade), with big holes at forward, and more than $22 million in cap space. But what does it look like if we include Roy — and I should reiterate here that the Marner deal is not done, so this is just theoretical for now — and the two RFAs who are likely to stay, Knies and Pontus Holmberg? That drops the Leafs to just two remaining roster holes, one on left wing and the other on the right. And drops their cap space down to roughly $11 million, assuming I'm in the ballpark on the Knies and Holmberg deals. For Knies, I went with the same five-year, $7.7 million a season contract that J.J. Peterka signed with Utah earlier in the week. Your mileage may vary, but I think that's a fair comparable given their age and goal production. Even though Peterka has been more productive points-wise over the past two seasons, Knies brings a rare physical skillset that sets him apart (and that could make him an offer-sheet target in such a thin market for offensive talent). Advertisement The good news, however, is that if Knies does sign an offer sheet, Toronto obviously has the cap space to match. Holmberg, meanwhile, I simply signed to his qualifying offer number, but his cap hit could end up slightly higher or lower depending on negotiations. As for Nick Robertson, another Leafs RFA, I left him out of this analysis for now. Theoretically either he or prospect Easton Cowan ($873,500) could fill one of the remaining wing spots, depending on if Robertson is back (of which I'm skeptical) or Cowan shows well enough in training camp to avoid demotion to the Marlies (also somewhat skeptical). Max Pacioretty, who is a pending UFA, is another option that wouldn't break the bank. (Negotiations continue on that front.) Steven Lorentz could be, too. As far as I can gather, the Leafs' biggest bet on July 1 is apparently going to be an attempt to sign Brad Marchand. That would obviously eat up a huge percentage of their remaining cap space — likely in the $8 million range — with the understanding the 37-year-old would be a big part of their top-six for the next few years. Other high-end possibilities, like Nikolaj Ehlers, might theoretically have been fallback options for Toronto, but all indications are he is destined for another team at this point. If Marchand chooses the Leafs over returning to Florida, that doesn't necessarily rule out Toronto making another significant addition. If the Leafs can trade Calle Järnkrok or David Kämpf in a salary dump deal — which should be possible with how little cash is remaining on their deals after July 1 and all the teams looking for talent right now — that could potentially leave them another $5 million or so to add another forward. The trouble is there simply aren't a ton of great top-six options in this UFA class. That's even more an issue if Marchand re-signs in Florida — probably the likeliest outcome — or goes elsewhere. The Leafs would then be onto Plan B or C, and to be honest, it's hard to get a read on what that looks like right now. Advertisement Maybe they get more aggressive on the trade front, where there have been a host of interesting players dealt as cap dumps (including Mason Marchment and Charlie Coyle) over the past 10 days. Or perhaps they wait out the expensive frenzy on Tuesday and try to make some bargain buys on July 2 and beyond. Some of the names still out there on the trade market could be interesting solutions. The Leafs did look hard at Peterka before losing that bidding war to the Mammoth, who sent Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring to Buffalo in that swap. Bryan Rust would be a great fit in Toronto's top six, for example, but Pittsburgh is going to want a massive futures haul that I don't think the Leafs can pull together. Could Toronto pursue other players on the block like the Islanders' Jean-Gabriel Pageau or Seattle's Jared McCann, even if they aren't perfect stylistic fits? Would it be worth checking in with Nashville on Steven Stamkos or Jonathan Marchessault to see if there's a discount to be had there and if they'd be willing to waive their no-movement clauses for the Leafs? Will more names shake loose once teams begin to spend some of their cap space on other free agents, RFAs and UFAs, beginning on July 1? As I outlined earlier in the week, having some patience here makes sense, assuming the Marchand bid doesn't pan out. But $11 million is a lot of empty cap space, too much to have sit all offseason, especially with no guarantee there'll be two or three quality forwards to use it on. If the Leafs can land Roy — a decent checking centre who has played 15 to 16 minutes a night in Vegas the past several seasons and can fill a hole down the lineup — that is one piece of good news, especially given a UFA's signing rights rarely net an asset like that. But even if that pans out, there are still a lot of balls in the air for Toronto right now, and no guarantee they're going to snag any of the ones they want. It should be an interesting few days, no matter what. (Photo of GM Brad Treliving: R.J. Johnston / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Free agency, Kirill Kaprizov's future and how new CBA rules could help the Wild keep their superstar
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Bill Guerin continues to fervently voice confidence that the Minnesota Wild will have no problem getting Kirill Kaprizov's contract extended this summer. We're going to trust him, as well as Wild owner Craig Leipold, who again told me a few days ago that Kaprizov's extension will get done. Advertisement We'll trust Kaprizov, too. The last we talked to him, just after the season, the Wild's gamebreaker tried to calm everyone's nerves by saying, 'I love everything here. It should be all good.' Kaprizov said, at the time, that he believes in the Wild's future. Still … this is Minnesota. We worry about everything. Not winning a major men's pro sports championship since the Bush administration (the father, not the son) will do that to you. It gives us an inferiority complex that everybody wants to leave us. Who wouldn't want to play under the bright lights of New York, L.A., Miami and Vegas? So even though Guerin has instructed everybody not to panic if Kaprizov doesn't sign on the dotted line as soon as he's eligible for an extension Tuesday, if Guerin and the Wild can't set off those proverbial fireworks in the first few days of free agency after so far not making any team-altering trades, we do have to wonder — eh, worry — what the heck Kaprizov thinks of all this. Don't, Guerin insisted Saturday. 'I've talked to him a number of times,' Guerin said after the Wild closed their draft with five new prospects in the pipeline. 'I've talked to his agent a number of times. They know the plan. They know what we're trying to do, and we have the same goal, and that's to win. Sometimes it just doesn't happen in one day.' Guerin's actually not talking about winning with that last line. He's talking about adding all the players you want to add. Yes, the Wild have about $17.7 million to spend this offseason, which includes what it'll take to re-sign restricted free agent Marco Rossi. But what he's saying is that with the cap expected to continue to rise in future years, the Wild should have the flexibility to make home-run swings if he and his staff make smart, calculated decisions. As of now, the trade market hasn't materialized the way Guerin envisioned. He also can't invent a bunch of sexy names that don't exist when the free agent bell rings Tuesday. Advertisement So while fans have every right to expect the Wild to add bigtime players to their arsenal after four years of hearing about dead money and buyout penalties and all those annoying things, if Guerin has to wait for next season to find the right players or even next summer to go after more appetizing fish and avoid tying up cap dollars on lesser players this free-agent class, well, so be it. That would be the most prudent thing to do. 'The biggest thing is that we're going to be able to be players in the game again,' Guerin said. 'Every year, you see, like, the (Mikko) Rantanen thing. (Matthew) Tkachuk a couple years before that. Like big players do move, and we haven't been able to be involved in that type of stuff. But if they come up now, we can.' That's fair as long as it actually happens, and Kaprizov, himself, understands that. With all due respect to Marian Gaborik, Kaprizov is the first true superstar in Wild history. If he's going to invest as much as nine more years of his career in Minnesota, he deserves to and needs to understand the plan. Guerin said he does, and he'll continue to communicate with him. Remember, Kaprizov wants to win. His NHL career started six years later than most players of his pedigree. His extension would kick in at age 29, so if winning a Stanley Cup is as important to Kaprizov as we think it is, he's going to want to see the path to perennial contention. Guerin still plans to add a couple of forwards in a few days — probably at least one bottom-six center and perhaps a scoring winger. Possible centers who can win draws and kill penalties include Christian Dvorak, Sean Kuraly, Nico Sturm, Colin Blackwell and Radek Faksa. Possible scoring wingers, as of now, include Brock Boeser, Patrick Kane, Brad Marchand, Nikolaj Ehlers, Claude Giroux and Corey Perry. Advertisement And after trading Declan Chisholm to the Washington Capitals on Saturday, Guerin does want to add blue line depth to a top seven that likely includes youngsters Zeev Buium and David Jiricek. But when it comes to extending Kaprizov, our gut is the Wild are indeed in the driver's seat. He missed half of the season last season with core muscle injuries. Is he really going to risk not signing a deal that could be in the $110 million to $120 million range? Also, when Leipold said last fall that no team in the NHL can or will be able to offer Kaprizov more money than the Wild, he's even more correct now. Terms of the newly agreed-upon collective bargaining agreement have started to leak. The four-year extension begins in the 2026-27 season. If a player entering the final year of his contract extends before June 30, 2026, league sources said the current rule would still be in effect. What does that mean? Starting in 2026-27, players can only re-sign for seven years with their current team and can only sign for six years with another in free agency. So Kaprizov can re-sign with the Wild for as many as eight years starting this July 1, but he would only be able to sign with another team for six years next July 1 (if he's not traded by the Wild before). That means if the Wild were to offer him, say, eight years at $14 million annually ($112 million total) or at $15 million annually ($120 million total) and he turned it down and decided to wait, he would have to get an offer of $18.67 million or $20 million on a six-year term to make those same total dollars. Similarly, the Wild have largely avoided giving player signing bonuses on Leipold's watch. But Leipold said last fall that he understands that with Kaprizov, 'We may be entering into new territory.' Well, under the next CBA, signing bonuses are expected to be capped at 60 percent of the total contract value. So if Kaprizov, like many players today, wants most of his contract in annual signing bonuses, he'd also have to sign his extension now. Advertisement For example, Noah Dobson was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday and signed an eight-year, $76 million contract. Dobson will earn $1 million in base salaries annually with $11 million signing bonuses on July 1 in each of his first three years, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston. That wouldn't fly a year from now under the new CBA. Same with Sam Bennett's structure with the Florida Panthers. He re-signed Friday at the tune of eight years and $64 million. According to PuckPedia, he'll earn eight years of $1 million base salaries with $56 million in bonuses spread across the eight years, starting in a few days at $9.2 million. Not that the Wild or Kaprizov would want this, but deferred payments in contracts will also no longer be permitted in contracts signed starting July 1, 2026. So all of this should be good news for the Wild and their fans. Financially, it makes all the sense in the world for Kaprizov to lock in with the Wild now. Of course, there's always a chance that Kaprizov would prefer a shorter-term deal to keep his future options open and further, let's just say, incentivize the Wild to try to build a perennial winner and not get complacent over the term of his contract. That, too, could be considered a good thing if it puts pressure on a franchise that has made the playoffs eight times in the past 10 years but has also lost in the first round in eight of the past 10 years. What may excite Kaprizov beyond the potential external additions to the Wild's lineup in free agency in a few days is the infusion of youth onto the roster next season. There's a chance we could see as many as five young players make the opening night lineup. Buium and Jiricek will have every opportunity to make the team on the back end. Goalie Jesper Wallstedt is penciled in to be Filip Gustavsson's backup. Skilled forward Danila Yurov is coming over from Russia to make his NHL debut, and it's time to see if Liam Ohgren can be a full-time NHLer. With Jonas Brodin having recently undergone surgery and expected to miss the start of the season, we could even see Carson Lambos on the opening night roster. Guerin is excited about the youthful energy these kids may be able to bring to the team. 'A lot of times those are the guys that can help you get over the edge or over the hump,' Guerin said. 'It's really important that we find these younger players that can make the push — make the lineup but make an impact. Like not just be out there and just get a roster spot. Advertisement 'We need guys to come in and make an impact and do something, not just make the team and take a seat in the locker room. 'And I think we've got some young guys that are going to be able to do that.' We'll soon find out one way or the other what Kaprizov thinks of all this. Remember, Guerin's not wrong when he says not to panic if there's no big Kaprizov announcement Tuesday. Leon Draisaitl's $14 million-per-year extension with the Edmonton Oilers didn't get done until September. There's no rush to get it done July 1. Could it, though? 'We'll see,' Guerin said. 'I can't really answer that. Hey, listen, I'd love to have everything locked in and sealed on July 1. I don't see that happening, but who knows? Kirill's agent and I have been talking — not just about Kirill but about other things, too. We have an open dialogue, and I would say things are good.' Pending restricted free agents: Rossi, Michael Milne, Graeme Clarke, Adam Raska, Luke Toporowski. Pending unrestricted free agents: Gustav Nyquist, Justin Brazeau, Devin Shore, Travis Boyd, Tyler Madden. Roster hopefuls: Yurov ($950,000), Ohgren ($886,666), Vinnie Hinostroza ($775K), Ben Jones (775K), Hunter Haight ($865,833), Riley Heidt ($950K), Caedan Bankier ($867,500), Cameron Butler ($858,333), Rasmus Kumpulainen ($897,500), Milne, Clarke, Raska, Toporowski. Pending restricted free agents: Ryan O'Rourke. Pending unrestricted free agents: Jon Merrill, Cam Crotty, Chase Priskie. Roster hopefuls: Buium ($966,667), Jiricek ($918,333), Carson Lambos ($863,334), David Spacek ($862,500), Jack Peart ($925K), Kyle Masters ($865,000), Stevie Leskovar ($860,000), O'Rourke. Pending unrestricted free agents: Dylan Ferguson, Troy Grosenick. Roster hopefuls: Samuel Hlavaj ($875K), Riley Mercer ($819,167) Cap charges (including Ohgren, Buium, Jiricek, Wallstedt, Yurov): $75,021,666 Projected dead-cap buyout charges, bonus overages: $2,766,666 Projected salary cap for 2025-26 season: $95.5 million Projected salary-cap space: $17,711,668 (excludes re-signings) (Top photo by Jeff Bottari / NHLI via Getty Images)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Latest Philadelphia Flyers Depth Chart Following Trevor Zegras Trade
Trevor Zegras immediately steps into a featured role in the Flyers' top-six. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images) After Monday's Trevor Zegras trade, the Philadelphia Flyers are going to be looking a lot different at the forward position in the 2025-26 season. Center Ryan Poehling, effectively the centerpiece of the blockbuster deal from the Flyers' side of things, will need to be replaced. Zegras, who may or may not be a true center at the NHL level, will slot in nicely at the top of the lineup at left wing or down the middle. Advertisement But, the 24-year-old former No. 11 pick won't be replacing Poehling's defensive and penalty killing impacts and has a career-high single-season faceoff percentage of only 41.4%. The latter is not the worst you'll find - Jack Hughes has a career success rate of 38% - but it won't be conducive to success in a defensive role of any real importance. Instead, that will be left to longer-tenured Flyers, such as Sean Couturier and Noah Cates. And even with Cates, his faceoff percentage last season was 44.6%. In short, the Flyers have created more offensive opportunity with the addition of Zegras at the cost of penalty killing and, in some cases, puck possession via faceoffs. Let's take a peek at what this will look like on paper ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft and the start of free agency: Travis Konecny - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov Advertisement Jakob Pelletier - Trevor Zegras - Owen Tippett Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink Nick Deslauriers - Rodrigo Abols - Garnet Hathaway In this forward group, we make a few assumptions. The most notable is that new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet keeps Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Matvei Michkov together. Flyers Trade for Trevor Zegras: Trade Grade, Immediate Outlook Flyers Trade for Trevor Zegras: Trade Grade, Immediate Outlook The first big deal of the 2025 NHL offseason saw the Philadelphia Flyers trade center Ryan Poehling, the 45th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, and a fourth-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Trevor Zegras. Defense was a major pain point with them, as they surrendered 3.15 expected goals against per 60 minutes, per Moneypuck, but they also created 4.59 expected goals per 60 minutes, which trailed only lines of Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl; Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Nikita Kucherov, and Jordan Martinook, Jordan Staal, and William Carrier. Advertisement On the other hand, those 3.15 expected goals against ranked fifth-worst in the league amongst lines with at least 230 minutes together. The next assumption, of course, is that Jakob Pelletier re-signs with the Flyers and plays a somewhat featured role in the middle-six. In Vancouver, Tocchet was fond of a similar undersized spark plug forward with some offensive skill in Nils Hoglander. Paired with Owen Tippett for 105 minutes of 5-on-5 action, Pelletier and Tippett out-scored opponents 5-3 while owning 52% of the shot attempts and a staggering 64.66% of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick. Advertisement Scoring chances were 45-25 for the Flyers with them on the ice, and high-danger scoring chances were 20-12. All five of the Flyers goals scored with Tippett and Pelletier on the ice were high-danger goals. This was a small end-of-season sample size, to be clear, but Pelletier and Tippett are two unrelenting forecheckers with decent speed and offensive skill. When you replace Poehling on that line with Zegras, as the Flyers have effectively done, the forward lineup has so much more flexibility and potential. The elite performance of the checking line that is Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink is duly noted, and they should remain together for the foreseeable future. The fourth line of Nick Deslauriers, Rodrigo Abols, and Garnet Hathaway could use a lot of work, but this is what the Flyers are working with at the time of the Zegras trade. Prospect Karsen Dorwart could make a case for a roster spot, but it's likely to assume the Flyers turn to a veteran in Abols to start.
