Brandon Montour News

Arguably the biggest defensive free agent is off the market early on Monday as Seattle has signed reigning Stanley Cup Champion Brandon Montour to a seven-year deal worth $49.98 million ($7.14M AAV). The 30-year-old smashed his career highs in 2022-23 after he ended the season fifth in the NHL in defensive scoring with 16 goals and 73 points in 80 games but came back down to earth in 2023-24 with eight goals and 33 points in 66 games played.

Montour missed the first 16 games of the regular season after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. Montour will look to pick up where he left off last season, where he had career-highs in goals (16), assists (57), points (73), SOG (242), and Power-play points (33). It unclear where Montour will line-up in his first game back, but he should re-claim his spot on the top power-play unit.

If Montour can play on Friday, he will be about one week ahead of the initial recovery schedule that targeted him for an American Thanksgiving return date. Montour has yet to play this season but will look to build on an incredible breakout campaign in 2022-23. Last season, Montour scored an impressive 73 points (16G / 57A) in 80 games after only scoring 73 points (23G / 50A) in his 185 combined games prior.

Montour has yet to appear this season for the Panthers' but is expected to travel with Florida on their road trip and has a possibility to return Friday vs. Anaheim. The 29-year-old is coming off a breakout season which saw him finish fifth in the NHL in scoring among defensemen with 73 points (16G/57A) in 80 games played in 2022-23.

Panthers' head coach Paul Maurice said that there's a chance Montour returns after the Panthers' upcoming road trip to California, which runs from Nov. 14 to Nov.17. This puts Montour on track to play somewhere around Nov.20 when they host the Edmonton Oilers.

Panthers GM Barry Zito did not have a definitive timetable for when Montour is expected to make his season debut but said it's safe to assume he'll be back between "November to January." Zito added that he believes Montour will be back before Aaron Ekblad, who will also miss the start of the season. Expect more detailed updates to come out during training camp.

Both Montour and Aaron Ekblad underwent offseason shoulder surgery, and GM Bill Zito said they're "on time" and are expected to be back in "a month or two." This puts both defensemen on pace to be ready close to the start of the regular season. The Panthers play just eight games in October, so even if Montour misses the start of the season, he may not miss too many games.

Montour missed the last two games but will play Friday vs. the Lightning. With Aaron Ekblad out, Montour figures to be the PP1 quarterback for the Panthers moving forward. He may also play massive minutes at 5v5 next to Gustav Forsling. He had one goal and four shots in two games to open the season.

Brandon Montour is set to miss his second game of the early season Wednesday as it was announced he will miss Florida's matchup against Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. This comes as a blow to the blueline as the Panthers just lost Aaron Ekblad for 4-6 Weeks. Montour has a goal on four shots in his first two games in his second season as a member of the Florida Panthers.

Montour is one of five Panthers that entered COVID-19 protocol this week, putting Thursday's game vs. the Kings in jeopardy.

Montour is in the final year of his contract that carries a $3.85M AAV cap-hit. Montour will help fill a void on the left-side that was created when they lost Aaron Ekblad for the season. The 27-year-old has scored five goals with nine assists, 72 shots, 53 blocks and 35 hits in 38 games with the Sabres this season.

Montour has been activated from the COVID-19 reserve list and was on the ice for the Sabres' morning skate but remains questionable to play Monday vs. the Islanders.

Montour was held out of Friday's game, likely to avoid him playing two games in two nights, but he'll make his first appearance of the season on Saturday. Montour will replace John Gilmour in the lineup and is coming off of a season where he had 10 points (3G / 7A) in 20 games with the Sabres after being traded from Anaheim.