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The Florida Panthers have most of their Stanley Cup winning core locked up long-term — Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling should all be part of the equation in South Beach for the foreseeable future.
But what about Sam Bennett? The 28-year-old has been a key piece of the squad's success, and he's been excellent again in 2024-25, to the tune of 13 goals and 26 points in 28 games. That's good for fourth in team scoring.
Bennett is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he was included on Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet's first trade board of the season on Wednesday.
“He sits at the very top of the grit list for any team looking for that element because of how the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup last season — and the Panthers have received plenty of feedback from teams that would be willing to pay a boatload to get him,” the hockey insider wrote.
“Bennett would be a hard player for Florida to lose as they try and defend their championship. With 13 goals and 26 points already, Bennett is their most physical player on the roster. But with an expiring contract, there's a risk they'll lose him for nothing next summer and that's not so appealing to GM Bill Zito so from what I'm told, he'll listen.”
Kypreos believes there's “more than a 50-50 chance Bennett could be traded this season if they don’t close the negotiation gap, which sits today as wide as a football field.”
The Panthers would not want to lose Bennett for nothing in the offseason, and Zito might take advantage of the center's high current trade value.
“Unless the Panthers decide to keep him as their ‘own rental' I would see this as a sign and trade scenario so the Panthers and Bennett can squeeze as much out of a deal as possible,” Kypreos wrote. “In return Florida would want a current player who can help them right away, and not just futures as they're still chasing another Stanley Cup.”
The Panthers are certainly Stanley Cup contenders again, having begun the 2024-25 campaign 18-9-2 — good for tops in the Atlantic Division.
Panthers again a contender to come out of the Eastern Conference
After a bit of a delayed Stanley Cup hangover in mid-November, the Cats have been surging. They've won six times in seven tries and have leapfrogged the Toronto Maple Leafs at the top of the division.
That's not at all surprising, as this Florida team has been a powerhouse ever since trading for Tkachuk. But Bennett is an instrumental piece of the success, and he would certainly be a difficult player to replace.
If talks go nowhere, it makes sense that Zito would move on from the player. But there's still a chance that the two sides find common ground at some point ahead of next summer.
It'll be interesting to see if Bennett ends up getting an extension in Florida, but the Canadian is probably more focused on helping the Panthers capture two Stanley Cups in three years next spring.
