The Panthers initially acquired Bennett on the 2020-21 NHL commerce deadline, and it has been a seismic transfer for each him and the workforce.
Bennett noticed his profession take off whereas getting the chance to play for a greater workforce than he had round him in Calgary, whereas he additionally gave the Panthers the kind of relentless, bodily ahead that has outlined their workforce over the previous 4 years.
There may be nothing about his regular-season numbers that bounce off the web page as overly spectacular. He’ll rating 20 targets. He may get 50 factors. In the case of his offense he’s a pleasant second-line participant.
However his worth goes properly past that. His worth additionally consists of his all-around play away from the puck in addition to his bodily presence that — together with Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand — has made the Panthers one of many NHL’s most bodily and agitating groups. Some may even say soiled.
He has additionally seen his playoff manufacturing skyrocket, together with this 12 months’s efficiency the place he led the league with 15 postseason targets, 4 greater than every other participant.
From a hockey standpoint, preserving him round makes all the sense on this planet.
The issue is the contract itself.
A part of what made Bennett such an ideal match for the Panthers over the previous 4 years was the very fact he solely had the ninth-highest salary-cap quantity on the workforce. He was paid just like the function participant that he’s.
That’s not going to be the case on this subsequent deal. Even with the wage cap rising over the subsequent few years, an $8 million-per-year funding over eight years for a 29-year-old ahead who doesn’t rating like a star is a dangerous funding. In a salary-cap league, groups should fastidiously watch each greenback they spend, and little overpayments right here and there can add up into large points in terms of filling out a roster.
The Panthers principally averted that in recent times.
Might this be a case of a contract that appears smart within the second coming again to harm them in later years?
Bennett has given the Panthers so much and has been a key a part of a modern-day dynasty, serving to the workforce to 3 consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and back-to-back championships. However groups will not be all the time paying a participant for what they’ve performed already. They’re paying gamers for what they may do subsequent. The Panthers are taking a giant gamble right here that he can maintain producing within the playoffs like he has, and that his efficiency is not going to tail off as he will get into his 30s.
No person goes accountable the Panthers within the second for doing this. That doesn’t imply it isn’t with out its dangers.
