Sam Bennett is a perfect fit on Panthers, ‘the definition of a playoff player' — would he walk away?

New York Times

3 days ago

EDMONTON, Alberta — For Sam Bennett, appearing in the Stanley Cup Final is no longer a goal. It's become the norm.
Bennett has played for the Florida Panthers for four full seasons and parts of five. In the past three, he has reached the Cup Final. On Wednesday night, with the rest of his close-knit teammates, he will begin vying for a second consecutive title in a rematch against childhood teammate, Connor McDavid, and the Edmonton Oilers.
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'It's just the expectation now,' Bennett said of reaching this moment. 'I think this whole organization, right from the management to the coaches, the players, all the way down to every single guy — the training staff, everyone — we all have that same expectation that we're going to fight for the Stanley Cup.
'Anything less than that is not good enough. That's our whole organization's mindset.'
Between comments like that and scenes like the one on the bench near the end of Game 7 in Toronto in the second round, when he told linemate Carter Verhaeghe, 'I wasn't ready to stop playing hockey' and 'I've got at least another month in me,' you have to wonder how Bennett could ever consider leaving what's been an ideal spot for him and his career in less than a month's time.
Bennett, if he gets to July 1, will be the most coveted center available as a free agent. There's no doubt he'd command more money on the open market than what Florida can and is willing to pay him. But Bennett has to be considering that success doesn't come easily in the NHL, and if his priority is to keep winning, leaving South Florida is probably not the wisest decision.
'Honestly, since the playoffs have started, it's really just taken a back seat and I haven't really thought too much about anything other than the playoffs and getting here and now the whole focus is on winning the Stanley Cup,' Bennett said Tuesday at Stanley Cup Final media day. 'Everything else is going to be in the background for the next couple weeks.'
But Bennett did agree that Florida 'is a good fit' and called Panters coach Paul Maurice 'the best coach I've ever had.'
The boys weren't ready to stop playing hockey 😼 pic.twitter.com/6Xs7gYLpSD
— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 20, 2025
It wasn't a sure thing that he'd find this fit after flaming out in Calgary in the spring of 2021.
A healthy scratch down the stretch of the pandemic-shortened 2021 season, Bennett was traded to the Panthers for Emil Heineman and a second-round pick. Since then, Bennett, 28, has posted three 20-goal seasons. And after scoring 12 goals and 29 points in 39 games during the previous two playoff runs, Bennett leads the NHL this postseason with 10 goals — one from tying the Panthers' playoff record for a single season — and is tied for second on his team with 16 points. He had four goals and seven points against the Carolina Hurricanes in the five-game Eastern Conference final.
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Not that he's caught up in the numbers.
'My only goal right now is winning the Stanley Cup,' Bennett said. 'If I can put the puck in the net to help our team win, that's all that matters to me.'
Offensively, defensively and physically, Bennett had his way with the Hurricanes. Until Game 5, when Maurice flipped Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues in the second period for a spark, the hard-nosed Bennett dominated alongside Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk, especially in a Game 2 blowout, when the trio combined for eight points.
Tkachuk calls him 'the definition of a playoff player.'
'He's always had the talent, he's always had the work ethic, he's always had the bite, you know, the jam — everything,' said Tkachuk, who was also teammates with Bennett in Calgary before himself being traded to the Panthers in 2022. 'I think a lot of it's got to do with opportunity. I mean, he didn't get the opportunity in Calgary that he has here with the minutes and how he's utilized and everything.
'Don't know why that is. Maybe that's just a personnel thing or whatever, but he's just taken off as a whole new player here in Florida for everybody to see — even though, in Calgary, I saw it all along and us as players saw it all along.'
Tkachuk said he and his Flames teammates 'weren't thrilled' when Bennett got traded to Florida. But at the same time, Tkachuk was happy to see him get a chance to flourish.
'You just see him year after year, playoffs after playoffs — that's where he makes his mark, is in the playoffs,' Tkachuk said.
WELCOME TO SOUTH FLORIDA 🌴
In his @FlaPanthers debut, Brad Marchand sets up Sam Bennett for the @Energizer overtime winner! pic.twitter.com/vAlCNHaybn
— NHL (@NHL) March 29, 2025
New teammate Brad Marchand sees it, too. He's come around quickly after learning the hard way last year in the Boston Bruins-Panthers second-round series just how good of a 'right hook' Bennett possesses.
Marchand and Bennett got to know each other better at the 4 Nations Face-Off, so it wasn't uncomfortable for Marchand to step into Florida's locker room and play alongside Bennett. It makes sense that there would be mutual appreciation. They think about the game the same way, and both are known for playing on the edge of the rulebook, or over it — willing to do anything to win.
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'Benny, he just does everything,' Marchand said. 'He could skate very well. Really good with the puck. Great shot. And then obviously he brings a physical aspect to the game that, especially this time of year, is, I mean, you can't have enough of it. And those are the guys that make a huge impact on the game, when you have to be aware of them physically on the ice and know where they're at.
'And then at the same time, I mean, he comes up big in those big moments, and it just seems like he's calm in all situations. And if you know him or if you've talked to him off the ice, that's how he is day-to-day. He brings that to the rink and on the ice. And when you have that combination … he's a player you love to have on your team and then one you hate to play against.'
Marchand couldn't see from afar what makes Bennett tick, seeing him as a serious, quiet, reserved, mercurial curmudgeon.
'And once you get to know him, he's actually pretty vocal and really funny and a good guy to be around,' Marchand said. 'But when you see him on the ice, he's so intense and dialed in and very quiet. Like, he doesn't really chirp. You don't hear a peep from him during the game. He's just all business. But I've really grown to appreciate his game over the last few years, I think everybody has.
'In Calgary, I don't think he was put in a position to succeed the way that he was here. You knew he was strong, physical and could skate and stuff like that, but you saw a whole different side of his offensive game. And I think the majority of the year he's been on the second power-play unit, too. I mean, if you see the way he handles the puck, he can shoot the puck and if he's running a half-wall or something like that, he's going to score a lot of goals or a lot of points. And you'd be able to have that luxury here in Florida, to have him in that position and producing the way he does, and then playing with Chuckie and Swaggy, it's a deadly combo all over the place.'
One of the big reasons Bennett has thrived in Florida, beyond playing in a consistent top-six role the past few years, is getting back to the middle of the ice. The No. 4 pick in the 2014 draft feels playing center brings out his best assets. When pucks get deep, he can forecheck with the best of them because of his closing speed, and his physicality intimidates even the gutsiest puck retrievers.
'It's a great example of how a player looks so good when he feels good about his game,' Maurice said. 'He's very fast, and he's physically very strong, so he's built for the playoffs — just his stature, and he can handle the heavy going. And I think he and Matthew really do have a really good chemistry. Matthew's hands and his IQ and where he puts pucks and all those things lets Sam run a little bit. I don't mean run around. I mean, let's let him get his speed up. That was the thing that was missing before he got here. He got stuck on the wing and he couldn't carry his feet. He's a very fast player. It might be the underrated part of him is how quickly he can get up the ice.'
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It's probably not in Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito's best interest to pump Bennett's tires right now. Not with talk that teams out there could be prepping to court Bennett with long-term offers in the $8 million to $10 million range.
But he adores Bennett and has no problem tossing bouquets his way.
'He doesn't get enough credit,' Zito said. 'I think people from the outside see this warrior, but this is a solid, solid team guy, who does anything for a team. Who's considerate. Who's humble. Very bright. He's a gamer, but it's not just on the ice in the playoffs when it shows up. It's all the things he does in the locker room. It's a guy who's not doing well, and suddenly Benny's there going, 'Hey buddy, come on. We've got you.'
'Players trust him because they know his motives are virtuous and he wants to win.'
Bennett knows how good the fit has been.
'I definitely struggled in Calgary for a while,' he said. 'Once I got here, just how the team embraced me — the opportunity the team gave me right from the beginning — was totally different than what I was getting in Calgary. I took that opportunity and found some success early, and our team definitely changed quite a bit.
'Our style changed, but I think it even fit my style of game even more, so that gave me even more confidence to go out and play. Just very fortunate to have some great teammates and linemates and great coaches that believed in me — and it just is a perfect combination to have success.'
After the Panthers won the Stanley Cup last year, just days before free agency, Zito figured out a way to finalize an eight-year, $69 million contract with Sam Reinhart. It meant he couldn't afford to re-sign more than a half-dozen other pending free agents, including Brandon Montour. This offseason, PuckPedia has the Panthers with $19 million in cap space, with Bennett, Marchand and Aaron Ekblad being their top free agents and Niko Mikkola eligible for an extension.
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The Panthers do have an internal cap for forwards, so to speak, with nobody making more than Aleksander Barkov's $10 million and Tkachuk's $9.5 million. If Bennett's to re-sign, it's likely that he'll have to come in significantly under Reinhart's $8.625 million and perhaps around Verhaeghe's $7 million.
That's probably less than Bennett could get in free agency.
So where's this headed?
'We'll talk about the playoffs now and worry about that stuff later,' Zito said, smiling. 'Over time, things get sorted out.'
The one thing Bennett will know playing in his third straight Stanley Cup Final with a chance to repeat as champs: The grass isn't always greener elsewhere, and the sun surely isn't brighter anywhere than Sunrise, Fla.
VIDEO!
Inside the @FlaPanthers radio booth for Sam Bennett's second goal of the night from Thursday's Game 2 win in Raleigh. @560WQAM @RealRadio921 pic.twitter.com/t65Z4FrHj2
— Doug Plagens (@DougPlagens) May 23, 2025