Did the Panthers get a discount with Sam Bennett’s contract?
The Florida Panthers locked up one of their most important players, but was it a steal of a deal?
Last Friday, the Panthers locked up forward Sam Bennett for the next eight years, signing a contract that will carry an AAV through the 2032-33 season. The extension comes after an incredible performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, leading all skaters with 15 goals and helping Florida win Lord Stanley’s Cup for a second year in a row. The 29-year-old ended up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in the process.
However, some consider the deal to be maybe a little too much, given that the former Calgary Flame posted a career-high 51 points, marking the first time in his NHL career that he’s hit the half-century mark in points. The Ontario native scored 20 or more goals for just the third time in his career, each coming as a member of the Panthers.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Matt Larkin and Tyler Yaremchuk discussed whether the Panthers received some sort of “hometown discount” on the Bennett contract.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I think a lot of people were thinking, “Ooh, $9-$10 million for Sam Bennett on the open market. The eighth year is definitely a factor here because that brings up the total amount of dollars Sam Bennett’s getting and what will, in all likelihood, be the final contract he signs in the NHL. … This is a 51-point player in the regular season last year. That was a career year for Sam Bennett as well. Could he be a 60-point guy going forward? Like, yeah, maybe. I don’t think 8×8’s a discount here.
I’m not doing the state income tax thing with him because he’s still got a ton of money for a guy who had a great playoff run. I don’t want to take anything away from him on that. But like, again, this is a lot of money for Sam Bennett.
Matt Larkin: He does have a checkered history of being fairly injury prone…I always use examples like Wayne Simmonds, David Backes, they’re players that hit a wall, and they suddenly just declined rapidly in their early 30s. So, I think halfway through this deal, it’s not going to look great. But I think in the context of the Panthers, they don’t care. They know he’s going to help them win next year, the year after they’re squarely in their contention window.
The price he got, you have to factor in a couple of things. You have to factor in the demand. That’s what’s going to set the price for the player. It was going to be very high on the open market. It was going to be well north of [$8 million]. You also have to factor in the rising cap. … You have to put it through the lens of not $88 million, $95.5 [million], 104, 113. $8 million, even before you talk about tax, it doesn’t look like as much in three years because the cap is jumping up so much.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…