What could the Conn Smythe winner make on his next contract?
Player Overview
Sam Bennett began his professional career with the Calgary Flames, after being selected fourth overall by the team in the 2014 NHL Draft.
Despite a promising start with the Flames in his rookie season, Bennett never seemed to really take the next step in Calgary. Across just over 400 games with the team to begin his career, Bennett only managed to produce at an 82-game rate of 14 goals and 29 points. As a result, Bennett ended up being dealt to the Florida Panthers part-way through the shortened 2021 season.
With the Panthers though, Bennett finally managed to reach a new level. The center ended up stepping into a top-six role with the team, and has scored at an 82-game rate of 27 goals and 56 points since being acquired by Florida.
A key part of the Panthers back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, Bennett played the best hockey of his career during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The forward scored an outstanding 15 goals across 23 games, earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP.
Now set to hit unrestricted free agency, Bennett is due for a huge raise over his current $4.43M cap hit. The center has very good speed and puck control, and his edge and physical presence helps him to stand out and consistently make an impact.
The thing for teams to consider will be that despite Bennett’s excellent playoff run, his production hasn’t necessarily reached elite levels over the course of the majority of his career, and his 51 points this season marked the highest of his career. Still, Bennett can be an extremely effective second-line center, and would have a lot of interest if he hits free agency on July 1.
What We Know
- Per Elliotte Friedman, the Panthers were looking to extend Bennett on an eight-year contract around a $7M cap hit, but it’s not likely enough to get a deal signed.
- The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported last week that an eight-year deal is expected for Bennett with the Panthers, around $8M per year.
- Despite the reports of Bennett re-signing, Cam Robinson from Elite Prospects reported earlier this week that he’s heard the two sides haven’t spoken about an extension in weeks.
- Following the Panthers’ Stanley Cup win, General Manager Bill Zito stated that he feels the Panthers will be able to re-sign Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad.
Comparables
Below, we examine what Bennett’s deal could look like, based on previous contracts for other forwards. For more information on the stats/tables used below, including how the payment rate is calculated, visit the About the Site page. With Bennett turning 29 years old, the comparables used will generally be centers who were near his age at the time of signing. Note: ages listed in the tables below are based on a player’s age by Dec. 31 in the first year of their contract.
8 YEARS
Below is a list of comparables, to help project Bennett’s contract. The table uses a system of establishing a cost-per-points basis, using the middle ground between a player’s production over their signing year, and over their career. From there, a comparable player’s cap hit from the first year of their contract is applied to a $95.5M salary cap using the same percentage against the salary cap, and a payment rate can be established based on how much the player was paid compared to their production. Each contract can then project how much Bennett can be expected to make, based on the same cost-per-points basis.
Based on the comparables for eight-year deals, Bennett doesn’t necessarily compare that well statistically. His signing year production was lower than almost every comp listed, his career production was substantially lower. That said, coming off a huge playoff run and a Conn Smythe win, Bennett certainly seems to be an exception who could earn a maximum-term deal.
Comparables for eight-year deals are below. Aside from one outlier in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, all of the other 13 comps would point to Bennett’s value on an eight-year contract being between $6.4M and $7.5M per year.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year G&P/82 | Career G&P/82 | Mid Point | Cap Hit | On $95.5M Cap | Payment Rate | Bennett Projection |
| Sam Bennett | 29 | 2025 | 27-55 76GP | 19-40 691GP | 23-48 | ||||
| *Tyler Seguin | 27 | 2019 | 40-78 82GP | 32-70 82GP | 36-74 | $9.85M 8 years | $11.54M 8 years | 1.56 | $7.49M 8 years |
| ***Tomas Hertl | 29 | 2022 | 35-67 59GP | 26-54 562GP | 31-61 | $8.14M 8 years | $9.42M 8 years | 1.54 | $7.41M 8 years |
| *Mika Zibanejad | 29 | 2022 | 35-73 56GP | 27-59 604GP | 31-66 | $8.50M 8 years | $9.84M 8 years | 1.49 | $7.16M 8 years |
| *Logan Couture | 30 | 2019 | 36-64 78GP | 30-62 582GP | 33-63 | $8.00M 8 years | $9.37M 8 years | 1.49 | $7.14M 8 years |
| *Nathan MacKinnon | 28 | 2023 | 40-111 65GP | 31-83 638GP | 36-97 | $12.60M 8 years | $14.40M 8 years | 1.49 | $7.13M 8 years |
| *Sebastian Aho | 27 | 2024 | 39-73 75GP | 34-74 520GP | 37-74 | $9.75M 8 years | $10.58M 8 years | 1.43 | $6.86M 8 years |
| ***Dylan Larkin | 27 | 2023 | 31-79 59GP | 25-60 584GP | 28-70 | $8.70M 8 years | $9.95M 8 years | 1.42 | $6.82M 8 years |
| *Sean Couturier | 30 | 2022 | 33-75 45GP | 21-52 692GP | 27-64 | $7.75M 8 years | $8.97M 8 years | 1.40 | $6.73M 8 years |
| **Roope Hintz | 27 | 2023 | 36-77 103GP | 28-61 261GP | 31-69 | $8.45M 8 years | $9.66M 8 years | 1.40 | $6.72M 8 years |
| *Aleksander Barkov | 27 | 2022 | 43-95 50GP | 28-72 82GP | 36-84 | $10.00M 8 years | $11.58M 8 years | 1.38 | $6.61M 8 years |
| *Leon Draisaitl | 30 | 2025 | 42-107 81GP | 40-97 719GP | 41-102 | $14.00M 8 years | $14.00M 8 years | 1.37 | $6.59M 8 years |
| *Brayden Schenn | 29 | 2020 | 19-62 72GP | 22-52 587GP | 21-57 | $6.50M 8 years | $7.62M 8 years | 1.34 | $6.41M 8 years |
| ***Bo Horvat | 28 | 2023 | 52-90 49GP | 27-55 621GP | 40-73 | $8.50M 8 years | $9.72M 8 years | 1.33 | $6.39M 8 years |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 28 | 2021 | 25-55 52GP | 23-60 656GP | 24-58 | $5.13M 8 years | $6.01M 8 years | 1.04 | $4.97M 8 years |
**Deal signed early into season – stats from that year before signing, as well as previous year are combined for Signing Year stats
***Deal signed mid-season – stats from partial season prior to signing used for signing year stats
Given Bennett would only be eligible to sign an eight-year deal with the Panthers though, it’s important to factor in his reported negotiations with the team. As mentioned above, Elliotte Friedman didn’t believe an eight-year contract at a $7M cap hit would be enough to get a deal done. As a result, we can be fairly confident that if Bennett does sign for eight years, it’s because Florida was willing to stretch to a higher cap hit, above that mark.
Based on the comps, five of them would project Bennett’s deal to come in above a $7M cap hit. The contracts for Mika Zibanejad, Logan Couture and Nathan MacKinnon would all project a deal between $7.1M and $7.2M per year, while Tomas Hertl’s deal would project a contract at $7.4M, and Tyler Seguin’s deal would project Bennett at $7.5M.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where Bennett could fall within this range. But given Bennett’s playoff run isn’t factored into the numbers above, but is certain to play a role in his next contract, we can expect his value could go right to the upper end of this range, around $7.5M per year if he signs for eight years in Florida.
7 YEARS
Seven years would represent the longest deal that Bennett could sign for if he hits free agency, with comparables below.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year G&P/82 | Career G&P/82 | Mid Point | Cap Hit | On $95.5M Cap | Payment Rate | Bennett Projection |
| Sam Bennett | 29 | 2025 | 27-55 76GP | 19-40 691GP | 23-48 | ||||
| John Tavares | 28 | 2018 | 37-84 82GP | 33-76 669GP | 35-80 | $11.00M 7 years | $13.21M 7 years | 1.65 | $7.93M 7 years |
| Elias Lindholm | 30 | 2024 | 16-48 75GP | 22-56 818GP | 19-52 | $7.75M 7 years | $8.41M 7 years | 1.62 | $7.76M 7 years |
| Chandler Stephenson | 30 | 2024 | 17-56 75GP | 15-45 495GP | 16-51 | $6.25M 7 years | $6.78M 7 years | 1.33 | $6.38M 7 years |
| Matt Duchene | 28 | 2019 | 35-79 73GP | 26-62 727GP | 31-71 | $8.00M 7 years | $9.37M 7 years | 1.32 | $6.34M 7 years |
| *Mark Scheifele | 31 | 2024 | 43-69 81GP | 31-73 723GP | 37-71 | $8.50M 7 years | $9.22M 7 years | 1.30 | $6.23M 7 years |
| Vincent Trocheck | 29 | 2022 | 21-52 82GP | 22-56 555GP | 22-54 | $5.63M 7 years | $6.52M 7 years | 1.21 | $5.79M 7 years |
| *J.T. Miller | 30 | 2023 | 33-101 80GP | 22-58 637GP | 28-80 | $8.00M 7 years | $9.15M 7 years | 1.14 | $5.49M 7 years |
Of the seven comps, they’d point to a seven-year deal to fall between $5.5M and $8M per year. Again though, if $7M on an eight-year contract from the Panthers wouldn’t be enough to get a deal done, we have to imagine he’d be in line for a higher cap hit in free agency.
Perhaps the best comp on the table would be Elias Lindholm. Lindolm had the most comparable production to any forward on the table, and signed for $7.75M per year last summer. His deal would also project Bennett to come in around the same range, factoring in the rising cap. There is also one comp which would project a higher cap hit, with the cost-per-points basis from John Tavares’ deal projecting Bennett to come in at $7.93M per year.
As a result, while there may be some speculation that Bennett’s cap hit could be a lot higher, even the highest-projecting comps would have a seven-year deal around $8M, or a little bit less.
6 YEARS
It seems very unlikely that Bennett would end up with a six-year contract at this point. Plus, there’s been a bit of a shift away from centers (and forwards in general) around Bennett’s age signing for six years.
However, his stats do align more closely with the comps for six-year deals below, than the comps for a maximum-term contract.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year G&P/82 | Career G&P/82 | Mid Point | Cap Hit | On $95.5M Cap | Payment Rate | Bennett Projection |
| Sam Bennett | 29 | 2025 | 27-55 76GP | 19-40 691GP | 23-48 | ||||
| Phillip Danault | 28 | 2021 | 8-37 53GP | 12-42 392GP | 10-40 | $5.50M 6 years | $6.44M 6 years | 1.61 | $7.73M 6 years |
| ***Charlie Coyle | 28 | 2020 | 13-37 106GP | 15-41 525GP | 14-39 | $5.25M 6 years | $6.15M 6 years | 1.58 | $7.57M 6 years |
| Brock Nelson | 28 | 2019 | 25-53 82GP | 21-41 480GP | 23-47 | $6.00M 6 years | $7.03M 6 years | 1.53 | $7.18M 6 years |
| *Mikael Backlund | 29 | 2018 | 14-48 58GP | 16-41 519GP | 15-45 | $5.35M 6 years | $6.43M 6 years | 1.43 | $6.86M 6 years |
| ***Kyle Turris | 29 | 2018 | 28-59 89GP | 21-48 544GP | 25-54 | $6.00M 6 years | $7.21M 6 years | 1.33 | $6.41M 6 years |
| **Jean-Gabriel Pageau | 28 | 2020 | 33-55 60GP | 17-35 428GP | 25-45 | $5.00M 6 years | $5.86M 6 years | 1.30 | $6.25M 6 years |
| *Bryan Little | 29 | 2018 | 24-60 57GP | 22-52 613GP | 23-56 | $5.29M 6 years | $6.35M 6 years | 1.13 | $5.45M 6 years |
**Deal signed mid-season – stats from partial season prior to signing used for signing year stats.
***Deal signed early into season – stats combined from signing year + year prior for signing year stats
Aside from one outlier in Bryan Little, the comps would point to a cap hit for a six-year contract to be between $6.25M and $7.75M per year. Again though, if $7M won’t get a deal done at eight years, we can be fairly certain it wouldn’t be enough for a six-year deal.
Bennett would almost certainly be offered a seven-year deal in free agency, but in the unlikely scenario that he wasn’t offered a seven-year contract, we can expect that a six-year deal would still come in around a similar range, right around $8M or a bit below.
Projection
The most likely scenario for Bennett by far would be a maximum-term deal, either at eight years in Florida, or seven years in free agency.
If Bennett extended with the Panthers, they’d likely be able to offer a slightly lower cap hit, giving more total dollars across a longer term. If Bennett hits free agency, we can expect a deal around $8M, or slightly lower, with a seven-year projection below representing a $55M contract.
| Term | Projected Cap Hit | Maximum Cap Hit | Minimum Cap Hit |
| 8 years | $7.50M | $8.00M | $7.00M |
| 7 years | $7.86M | $8.00M | $7.50M |
In the unlikely scenario where Bennett signs a six-year contract, we can still expect that his value should be around $8M per year.
| Term | Projected Cap Hit | Maximum Cap Hit | Minimum Cap Hit |
| 6 years | $8.00M | $8.00M | $7.50M |
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