Report: Panthers, Bennett open contract talks
The Florida Panthers recently secured the services of a key piece of their championship core, and now they've turned their attention to another.
Sam Bennett and the club have started negotiating a new contract, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest edition of "Saturday Headlines."
However, the two sides aren't yet close to a deal, Friedman cautioned.
Bennett is a pending unrestricted free agent. He's in the final season of a four-year pact with a cap hit of $4.425 million, according to PuckPedia. He inked that deal with Florida in July 2021.
The 29-year-old center is in his fourth full campaign with the Panthers, who acquired him in a trade with the Calgary Flames in April 2021. He posted career highs with 28 goals and 49 points in 2021-22, notched 20 tallies and 21 helpers during the 2023-24 regular season, and collected seven goals and seven assists over 19 playoff games last spring to help Florida win the Stanley Cup.
Bennett registered a goal and an assist in a win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, giving him four goals and three assists in seven contests. He's played 10-plus NHL seasons after the Flames drafted him fourth overall in 2014.
On Oct. 8, the Panthers re-signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to an eight-year extension reportedly worth $7 million annually.