As the Florida Panthers navigate the salary cap crunch following the recent extension of Carter Verhaeghe, the futures of two other key players for the franchise, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, have come under the spotlight.
Appearing on SportsCenter with Jay Onrait on Oct. 10, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun shared insights into the Panthers’ ongoing contract negotiations, highlighting how the team is trying to navigate the tight financial situation it will face next offseason.
According to LeBrun, the Panthers are likely to ask both upcoming unrestricted free agents to take less money if they wish to remain with the team beyond this season.
Otherwise, it will be difficult (if not impossible) for the Panthers to keep their Stanley Cup-winning core together for much longer.
Florida announced the extension of forward Verhaeghe to an eight-year, $7 million AAV contract on Oct. 8.
However, Bennett and Ekblad may need to accept similar deals for money below their market value if they want to stay put in Florida. Ekblad is earning $7.5 million this season while Bennett carries a cap hit of $4.43 million.
LeBrun explained that Panthers general manager Bill Zito is determined to retain the core of the team but faces significant cap challenges.
“Bill Zito has said multiple times that there’s a path to keeping all three,” LeBrun said. “But that path involves Bennett and Ekblad taking less than they would on the open market.”
LeBrun suggested that if Verhaeghe had hit the open market, he could have easily secured $8 million per year.
The same applies to Bennett and Ekblad, who are likely to face a decision between staying with a competitive team or pursuing higher salaries elsewhere.
“Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad are going to have to make similar decisions,” LeBrun said. “And it’s okay if they decide to go to market, by the way.
“But if Bennett and Eklad want to stay on the Stanley Cup champions, they’re going to have to take less than market value.
“That’s been communicated.”