The Florida Panthers started off their 2024-25 campaign swimmingly, beating the Boston Bruins in front of the home crowd before locking up a key piece of the core in Carter Verhaeghe mere hours later.

The Cats now have Verhaeghe, Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling and Anton Lundell all signed through 2029-30, and this squad looks like it will be at the top of the Eastern Conference for years to come.

And another forward could be joining that group this season, according to Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman.

“Big bit of business for Florida as Carter Verhaeghe, who broke through at age 25, signed for $56M while the Panthers raised their banner. They are expected to make a run at keeping Sam Bennett, too,” Friedman confirmed in his latest 32 Thoughts column on Wednesday.

“He’s good for them, and Florida is good for him. He’s not a scorer like Verhaeghe, but centres generally get rewarded. In true Bennett fashion, Tuesday night we were talking about him for Team Canada and a smart hockey person texted, ‘Their management will be concerned he takes crazy penalties.' Just as I finished reading that, Bennett was penalized for bowling over Joonas Korpisalo on the Panthers’ 6-2 goal.”

Bennett is certainly a player that opposing teams hate to play against, and his antics have been on full display over Florida's last two Stanley Cup runs. Still, he's an important piece of the top-six; he anchors the second line and has found great chemistry with Tkachuk over the last couple of seasons.

Sam Bennett is a key piece of powerhouse Panthers

Related Florida Panthers NewsArticle continues below
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour gestures as he speaks to his players and assistant coach Jeff Daniels in the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
Hurricanes’ Rod Brind’Amour warns players about Panthers’ antics
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice during the post game media conference following a win in game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
Paul Maurice pours cold water on Panthers despite Game 1 blowout win
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends against Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov (37) during the third period in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center.
Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky downplays knee to head in Game 1

General manager Bill Zito is doing everything he can to keep as much of the core as he can around long-term, and it looks like that could include Bennett as well.

The 28-year-old Canadian has one year remaining at $4.425 million before he is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He's already eligible to sign an extension, and it wouldn't be surprising if the Panthers were able to keep this player around for a similar AAV on his next deal.

Bennett has scored 20 goals in two of the last three seasons despite lack of exposure to the top powerplay unit. He has a +52 rating over the last three years, and he's usually good for around 150 hits annually as well. He's also off to a phenomenal start in 2024-25, scoring two goals and adding a +3 rating in Tuesday's season opening 6-4 win over the Bruins.

The Ontario native could be primed to exceed his career-high of 28 goals and 49 points, which he achieved in his first full year in Florida in 2021-22.

Bennett and the Panthers will take their 1-0 record into an Atlantic Division clash with the Ottawa Senators in Canada's capital on Thursday night.