Florida Panthers Begin Contract Talks With Key Player

At the trade deadline, the Florida Panthers added Seth Jones, Nico Sturm and Brad Marchand in massive deals, signalling their intentions to push for a second straight Stanley Cup in 2025.

However, it's their incredibly talented core of Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Matthew Tkachuk, Sergei Bobrovsky and Sam Bennett that have them in this position in the first place, all of whom were critical to their success a year ago.

All of those names are locked down long-term, except for Bennett, who will seemingly draw plenty of interest on the free agent market over the summer, but now, top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has suggested the two sides are working on a deal before he gets to the open market.

On Sportsnet, Friedman would not go so far as to say that a deal would or wouldn't get done, but notes the great relationship between Bennett and the Panthers, who originally came together due to a trade with the Calgary Flames has been good, and wouldn't rule out a deal getting done.

However, with Mikko Rantanen inking a long-term extension in Dallas, Bennett would be one of the biggest names on the market beyond Mitch Marner if he tested free agency, leading many to believe that's exactly what would happen.

For now though, there's a chance that Bennett doesn't make it that far, and with all of the other core pieces on this team locked up long-term, an extension can't be ruled out at this point.