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August 27, 2023
Florida panthers

When news broke last that the Toronto Maple Leafs signed star forward Auston Matthews to a new contract extension, some fans of the Florida Panthers smiled.

Although it might be better for the Panthers in the long run had Matthews departed what is a stacked Atlantic Division, the Leafs were not going to let that happen.

At least not anytime soon.

Matthews, who is entering the final season of a five-year deal, agreed to a four-year contract extension with Toronto which will have an annual cap hit of $13.25 million.


This season, Matthews will make $11.64 million which ranks as the fourth-highest deal in the league; his new contract would rank tops in the NHL this coming season eclipsing Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6 million), Connor MacDavid ($12.5) and Artemi Panarin ($11.64).

Regardless, it is a good deal for Toronto as Matthews is one of the top players in the entire league and deserves to be paid as such.

Now, one might be wondering: Why would the Panthers care what the Toronto Maple Leafs are paying their best player?

Just look at the deals Florida has made lately.

Not only have the Panthers locked up some of their top players to reasonable deals — but it has more players it needs to take care of like Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Gus Forsling and Anton Lundell.

Last summer, Florida pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames in which they sent Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a first-round pick for Matthew Tkachuk.

As part of the deal, the Panthers negotiated a maximum term contract with Tkachuk in the first sign-and-trade in NHL history.

Tkachuk, now 25, signed for eight years with an annual cap hit of $9.5 million.

Captain Sasha Barkov agreed to a similar deal (eight years, $10 million AAV) the summer before. Huberdeau, incidentally, signed an eight-year extension with a $10.5 million annual salary not long after the trade.

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So, when looking at the Panthers, they have two of their best players locked up for the next seven seasons (both contracts kicked in last year) at just under $20 million of cap space.

Add in Carter Verhaeghe’s incredibly team-friendly deal of $4.12 million for the next two seasons and the Panthers are in pretty good shape.

Now, the Panthers need to try and keep the rest of their squad together.

It will not come easily.

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Although Florida is near the $83.5 million salary cap ceiling for this season, the NHL projects the cap to go up fairly considerably next summer with more raises on the way.

That is good news for the Panthers — and players needing a new deal.

Florida has four key players going into the final years of their current contracts although Lundell is a restricted free agent under four more seasons of team control after this one.

The Panthers will get Lundell a nice extension — either a bridge deal or a long contract to buy up some of his unrestricted years — in time.

There is not a rush on this one.

That is not the case for some of Florida’s veterans.

Reinhart, Montour and Forsling are all entering the final year of their current contracts. All three had signed extensions with Florida in the past.

Will they do so again?

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Florida has been able to sign any of these players to new contracts since July although general manager Bill Zito said at the draft that no extensions were forthcoming. That does not mean they are not coming; Barkov’s deal came together during training camp in 2021.

All three players are looking at substantial raises based on what they have done during their time in Sunrise — with Montour looking at the biggest increase.

The defenseman is coming off his best season, one in which he became a legitimate top NHL defenseman. Those do not come cheap.

Montour is making $3.5 million this season; he may be in the $10 million camp on the open market which may be too rich for Florida’s blood.

Forsling, meanwhile, is making $2.7 million and his contribution to the Panthers is more on the defensive end — but his play is invaluable. Do not be surprised to see the former waiver claim from Carolina more than double his salary into the $6.5-7 million range.

As for Reinhart, he knows where the Panthers’ ceiling is and it is where Barkov and Tkachuk reside.

For as good as Reinhart has been with Florida (he has had his best two statistical seasons since arriving), he will not make more than those two here.

He may occupy the same neighborhood, but he will not be in the penthouse of Florida salaries.

The Panthers, it should be noted, still have three years remaining of Sergei Bobrovsky at a $10 million hit which could end up being two years with the final season bought out to create more salary cap space.

Buying Bobrovsky out with two years remaining is still a pricey proposition although it would save over $3 million in cap space for the first two years with a minimal hit the following two years.

Not only does Zito have to worry about the likes of Montour, Reinhart and Forsling but Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and others will be up next summer and more decisions will have to be made.

Be secure in the knowledge that the Panthers’ braintrust knows all of this and has been working on these types of situations for a long time.

It is a good place to be in, if you are the Panthers and their players.

While Florida may not be able to keep all of its players due to cap concerns, the fact that so many have been playing at a high level is a good thing.

It just makes the price of doing business that much harder.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

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