The morning after the Panthers raised the Stanley Cup, some idiot wrote that it would be "nearly impossible" for Florida to re-sign its two top pending free agents, forward Sam Bennett and defenseman Aaron Ekblad. That idiot didn't even include mention of Brad Marchand in the same sentence, because only a giant mega mondo idiot would even consider the possibility that they could bring back all three. Well. About that. You see. The thing is.
The thing is that the Panthers and GM Bill Zito have done basically everything right over the last three years, and been rewarded with back-to-back Cups, and a roster that adores each other and winning and Florida's lack of income tax, and a bunch of stars willing to take less than their open-market value to keep all that going. So, in a huge blow to the rest of the league's chances next year, and to the potential for drama as true free agency opens up today, the Panthers locked down all three guys to long-term extensions.
Bennett played himself into rarified air with a monster postseason that saw him collect the Conn Smythe and a bunch of new enemies. The anchor of Florida's second line, he was going to get 1C money because that's what he'd be most places. His new deal, for eight seasons at $8 million per, represents a slight discount, one he likely took because of the eighth year only Florida was allowed to offer.
The biggest hometown discount of the trio has to be Ekblad, who on Monday signed his own eight-year deal, averaging $6.1 million per season. Given the apparent going rate for defensemen, this has to rank as a relative pittance for Florida. Ekblad could have easily made more per year on the open market, but again, the Panthers paid in term for the 29-year-old for what they couldn't squeeze under the cap.
Marchand's represents the most shocking extension of the three. Intended to be a pure rental pickup at the deadline, the Bruins lifer had a nothing of a regular season, and then turned on the jets when it counted, racking up 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 playoff games and immediately becoming a dressing-room glue guy. He was rewarded with a six-year deal worth $5.25 million per season. No, that "six" is not a typo.
None of Brad Marchand's comps played until they were 43 years old so the outcome range part of the chart broke, sorry pic.twitter.com/mLbVS50q3D
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) June 30, 2025
Going to six years was likely the only way to get Marchand's AAV under next year's cap, but it's going to be real interesting to see the details of his contract. The league mostly closed the loophole on frontloading contracts for old guys after the Ilya Kovalchuk debacle, but if any front office can find a new one, I trust Zito's dark magic.
"We really have the chance to truly make this team a dynasty," Bennett said after agreeing to his extension, and that son of a bitch is right, damn him. The Lightning, the last team to win consecutive Cups, was basically in cap hell the entire time, and it was just a simple matter of them being unable to afford to keep the guys they turned into stars. But things have lined up for the Panthers, and they're not wasting any money on bad deals, and the rising cap (going up an average of $8.5 million in each of the next three years) means big-money deals now won't look quite so scary by their end. Yes, the Panthers might have a weird elderly zombie roster in 2030 or whatever, but when you have a chance like they do, to get the band back together in realistic pursuit of a third (and more) Cup, it's a no-brainer.
That they were able to do it is a testament to what they've built in Sunrise. No one takes a discount to play in Columbus. Guys want to win, and they want to play with talented teammates who make them better but who also take the pressure off them to do everything. And yeah, some of them want to go to Elbo Room and to not pay income tax. But it's mostly about winning. There's a reason the top non-Panther pending free agent is just the latest star to find his way to Vegas. The list of remaining UFAs for today's noon starting gun is already looking kind of grim, with a lot of bad teams holding a lot of money to overspend. The good teams find a way to take care of business beforehand.
