Report: Brandon Montour staying with the Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are apparently keeping another piece of their 2021 team as defenseman Brandon Montour has agreed to a three-year contract extension.

Montour, whom the Panthers acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with Buffalo, could have been a free agent Wednesday at noon.

Montour is expected to get $3.5 million per season, giving the Panthers around $8.5 million in salary cap space going into free agency — although the team still has to sign Sam Reinhart.

The signing of Montour was reported by Shane O’Brien, who was a member of the Panthers for a short time and now co-hosts a popular podcast with fellow Florida alums Scottie Upshall and Jimmy Hayes

On Monday, Florida general manager Bill Zito freed up some salary cap room by dealing defenseman Anton Stralman.

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The Panthers were thought to be in on Ryan Suter but with the return of Montour, Florida’s top-four defensemen appear to be set going into the coming season.

In 12 games with the Panthers, Montour scored two goals with four points.

@MontourBrandon is staying in south Florida. @FlaPanthers It’s a 3 year deal. @MissinCurfew @SiriusXMNHL @stevekouleas

— Shane O'Brien (@ShaneOBrien55) July 27, 2021

Earlier this month, Zito locked up Gus Forsling with a three-year contract.

The Panthers appear to be headed into camp with a d-corps of Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, Montour, Forsling and Radko Gudas.

Markus Nutivaara, Matt Kiersted, Noah Juulsen, Lucas Carlsson, Chase Priskie and John Ludvig will be fighting for the other two spots.

The Panthers could add a defenseman at a low price come Wednesday as well.