Contemporary off a second-straight Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers and a Conn Smythe Trophy win, Sam Bennett’s worth is at an all-time excessive.
Bennett was the main purpose scorer for the Panthers on this run, with 15 objectives and 7 assists in 23 video games performed. That follows a daily season the place he had 25 objectives and 26 assists.
Matthew Tkachuk might be the center of this Florida staff, however Bennett is the kidney, spleen, lungs, or another very important organ.
The 29-year-old heart is now set to develop into an unrestricted free agent on July 1 when the NHL’s free company opens.
The Panthers will in all probability do every part they’ll to re-sign him, however he’ll get quite a lot of curiosity from different contending groups.
Listed here are among the groups Bennett may very well be signing with this offseason.
Potential Sam Bennett Touchdown Spots
Golden Knights
Vegas has a sliver of cap area, estimated by PuckPedia to be round $9 million, however which may be sufficient to signal Bennett. The Athletic tasks his contract to be round $6.6 million.
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston mentioned on his podcast again on June 4 that whereas the Knights shouldn’t be seen as a favourite to signal Mitch Marner, he believes them to be a front-runner to signal Bennett if he hits free company.
Vegas’ season ended within the second spherical this yr after dropping in 5 video games to the Edmonton Oilers.
Even when their relative lack of cap area might develop into a problem with the Knights, GM Kelly McCrimmon and his entrance workplace have proven their willingness to get offers executed over time.
They acquired some criticism from NHL followers for his or her artistic use of the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) to amass gamers on the commerce deadline.
Kings
Los Angeles has over $21 million in cap area to make use of this summer time and can seemingly be within the hunt for among the top-tier free brokers this offseason.
The Kings have had stable groups over time, however haven’t been capable of get previous Edmonton of their current playoff outings. They’ve misplaced to the Oilers three years in a row within the first spherical.
Nicely, Bennett’s overwhelmed Edmonton within the Stanley Cup Finals now two years in a row, so possibly he’s the lacking piece to a probably more-winning technique for Los Angeles.
The Kings had a cautious method on the deadline this season, making an attempt to not expend their restricted draft capital.
Nevertheless, in free company, Los Angeles has extra and simpler avenues to enhance its roster.
The Kings are additionally reportedly pursuing Marner, so their entrance workplace, like others, might wait till after that’s executed to pursue Bennett totally.
Maple Leafs
Two conflicting items of data have come out about Bennett’s priorities in free company.
There was vital reporting saying that he doesn’t wish to signal with a Canadian staff. On the identical time, there’s quite a lot of smoke surrounding a possible signing with Toronto, based on insiders.
The Maple Leafs can have quite a lot of cap area to maneuver with this offseason, upwards of $25 million.
Additionally they have a roster that wants playoff hardening. One of many hallmarks of the ‘Core 4’ period in Toronto is stellar regular-season play adopted by mediocre play within the postseason.
The precise reverse is true of Bennett, who maintains his degree of manufacturing from the common season and typically improves upon it for the postseason.
If the Maple Leafs wish to transfer to a post-Core 4 period of the staff, one which’s slightly extra playoff-battle prepared, they need to look to signal Bennett.
Panthers
It’s exhausting to think about Florida not pulling out all of the stops to make it possible for Bennett stays a Panther for all times.
He’s been a big piece of this Panthers’ resurgence over the previous 5 years, after he was acquired from Calgary by Florida.
I’d be stunned to see a deal occur earlier than July 1, although. It’s been made clear by way of the reporting of NHL insiders that Bennett desires to check his worth in free company.
NHL insider Pierre LeBrun spoke of the significance of attending to that open market in free company, saying, “I feel there’s some groups keen to pay him $10M a yr.”
That doesn’t imply a deal gained’t ultimately occur, but it surely’s smarter for Bennett to enter the open market so he can safe his truthful market worth from Florida.
