Panthers sign Radko Gudas to six-year extension
A player making his return to South Beach is going to be around for a long time.
According to PuckPedia, the Florida Panthers have signed defenseman Radko Gudas to a six-year contract extension. The deal, set to begin this coming season, will carry a cap hit of $1.5 million through the 2031-32 campaign.
The #TimeToHunt have signed 36 y/o D Radko Gudas to a 6 year $1.5M cap hit contract 1st on signing @TheFourthPeriod 1st on details @FriedgeHNIC Rep'd by Allain Roy @rsghockey puckpedia.com/player/radko-g…
It’s quite the contract for a player who is on the Back 9 of his career. Yet, signing the 36-year-old to a long-term deal at such a low AAV might be beneficial for a Panthers team that is trying to bounce back after a tough 2025-26 season, during which the team missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in seven years.
Gudas was re-acquired by the Panthers on Monday, as Florida traded forward A.J. Greer to the Anaheim Ducks in a one-for-one deal involving two pending unrestricted free agents. Greer signed a four-year contract with his new team on Tuesday.
For Gudas, it’s a notable return to Sunrise. The rugged right-shot defender spent three seasons with the team, providing experience and grit to a Panthers team on the rise. In his final season with the Cats, the team made a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final, for just, at that point, the second time in franchise history. That summer, he signed a three-year contract with the Ducks. That deal carried a cap hit of $4 million.
The Czechia blueliner certainly isn’t the same body that he was with Florida a few years ago, but he could bring some veteran depth. This past season in Anaheim, he appeared in just 56 games due to injury, scoring two goals and 11 assists for 13 points, posting a plus/minus of -2 while averaging 16:11 of ice time. He played just one game in the postseason, Anaheim’s first trip to the playoffs since 2018.
It was certainly a controversial season for Gudas, as he knocked out two of the best players in the game. While representing his country at the Winter Olympics, Gudas hurt Canada captain Sidney Crosby during their quarterfinal matchup. Then, a month later, his knee-on-knee hit on Auston Matthews knocked the Toronto Maple Leafs captain out for the remainder of the season.
In 885 regular-season games in the NHL, Gudas has scored 42 goals and 169 assists for 211 points, totaling 1,124 penalty minutes. He also has 10 points in 58 postseason affairs.