NHL Free Agency: Montour, OEL, Stolarz, Stenlund Leave

Brandon Montour, one of the top defensemen available when NHL Free Agency opened Monday at noon, will not return to the Florida Panthers after signing with the Seattle Kraken.

He gets a reported seven-year deal worth more than $49 million.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who spent this past season with the Panthers, goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs on a four-year deal.

Goalie Anthony Stolarz is also headed to Toronto on a two-year deal.

Kevin Stenlund, who centered Florida’s fourth line in his one year here and was one of the team’s top penalty killers, got a two-year deal with Utah for $4 million.

The Panthers also lost Ryan Lomberg, who went back to Calgary on a two-year, $4 million deal.

Florida has re-signed Sam Reinhart (eight years, $69 million) and Dmitry Kulikov (four/$4.8m).

Montour, 30, spent the past four seasons with the Panthers after being a deadline trade from Buffalo in 2021 for a third round pick when Aaron Ekblad went down with a leg injury.

It appeared Montour was going to leave the Panthers when the NHL Free Agency window opened in 2021, but the day before the market opened, he re-signed with Florida on a three year deal which just expired.

“You obviously get to explore and see what’s out there,’’ Montour said then. 

“My interest was never like that. I wanted to be a Panther. You know the business side, so you’ve got to work that through, but this is where I want to be.”

Montour became one of the top character players on a Florida team full of them.

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He was also a standout player on the Florida blueline, and quarterbacked one of the two power play units for the past couple of years.

With free agency a reality this time around, Montour knew his time with the Panthers was limited — but he kept rolling toward the goal and helped Florida win the Stanley Cup for the first time.

After winning the Stanley Cup last Monday night, Montour talked about how special it was to do it with the Panthers — and to be able to celebrate it with his son Kai, who was born during last year’s Final.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Montour said. “Having him last year, it would have been nice to win that one. But for him to be here, obviously a little older, and to experience it in his first year. You know, he’s 1 now and to share this with him, it’s pretty cool.”

Ekman-Larsson came to the Panthers after being part of the biggest buyout in NHL history got $3.5 million per season from Toronto.

Stolarz got two years and $5 million from the Leafs; he played with Florida on a one-year contract worth just north of $1 million and put up the best stats of any goalie in the NHL last season.

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UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS

• NHL Free Agency: Today
• Florida Panthers Development Camp, Fort Lauderdale: Early July
• Florida Panthers Training Camp, Fort Lauderdale: Mid-September
• Florida Panthers Preseason: Sept. 22-Oct. 5
• Florida Panthers Opening Night/Banner Unveiling: Oct. 8 v. Boston Bruins