George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers got a big piece of business taken care on Tuesday when they announced a new eight-year contract with Carter Verhaeghe worth $56 million.
Verhaeghe, 29, would have been a free agent following this season.
Now, it appears he will end his career with the Florida Panthers.
Verhaeghe said it would be strange for him to wear another jersey other than the Panthers; he does not have to worry about that anymore.
General manager Bill Zito has expressed a desire to extend his other two high-profile pending free agents as well.
Both Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad are up for new deals, but as was the case last year with Sam Reinhart, Zito stresses each player is different and new contracts take time.
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These things just have to play themselves out.
In the case of Verhaeghe, the heavy lifting got done pretty quickly.
The two sides had been talking and exchanging numbers, but according to Verhaeghe, the deal did not come together until Tuesday.
Verhaeghe and the Panthers agreed to the new deal before Tuesday’s season-opener against the Boston Bruins.
Florida raised its 2024 Stanley Cup championship banner — then beat the Bruins 6-4.
Verhaeghe said it was nice to get the contract squirreled away before the puck dropped on a new season.
“I definitely wanted to get it done before the season” he said. “It just makes the season a little easier, I can just relax a little and play hockey, do what I do. Less distractions the better. I was good either way. I wanted to be a Panthers and am just so glad it got done. It feels so good to be locked in with this team. It’s nothing but excitement. I am so happy.’’
Both Ekblad and Bennett are in a different situation.
Both have made it clear they want to stay with the Panthers.
The Panthers have made it clear they want to keep both players.
Something, one would think, will get done in due time.
Ekblad, who turns 29 in February, has only played for the Panthers.
The top pick of the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad is a two-time All-Star who is in the final year of an eight-year contract he signed in 2016.
Ekblad has an annual cap hit of $7.5 million which makes him the highest-paid defenseman on the team and fifth overall behind Sasha Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million), Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5), and Reinhart ($8.625).
What Ekblad is asking for — and what the Panthers are countering — is not known.
The general thought is, with Gus Forsling agreeing to an eight-year contract worth $5.75 million annually last season, that Ekblad will probably not get what he has been making the past eight years.
Ekblad’s life is now here in South Florida and it is obvious he does not want to play anywhere else.
The Panthers will probably take care of Ekblad in these negotiations, but he is going to have to give a little as well.
With the Panthers having to adhere to a salary cap, some players have to take a little less to help keep the good times rolling.
Bennett may be in a similar boat as far as term goes — he will be 29 next season — but if he continues to put up strong offensive numbers, he is in line for a raise from the $4.425 million he has made over the past four seasons since signing his first extension with Florida in 2021.
In his first full season with the Panthers in the 2021-22 season, Bennett set a career high with 28 goals; he had 36 in the following two seasons while averaging 66 games.
Bennett got his contract season off to a rousing start Tuesday, scoring two goals on four shots on goal against the Bruins.
When camp started, Bennett said it was nice that the possibility of becoming a free agent is not a topic of daily discussion as it probably would be elsewhere.
“I think it’s great,’’ Bennett said. “I hear about other players in big markets and it is all people want to talk about. It is kind of nice not to have that distraction. I have a great relationship with the team. I am not worried about that at all. We can go through camp and we’ll see how things play out.’’
Zito is not going to negotiate through the media, and Tuesday’s announcement with Verhaeghe came as a complete surprise to those outside the organization.
Even at Monday night’s ring ceremony, there was no whispers of a deal being imminent.
But one thing is clear: The Panthers take care of their core guys.
Deals eventually get done — Reinhart signing for the max eight years last summer a great example. It may have gone down to the wire, but it got done.
Ekblad and Bennett are big parts of the team culture just as Verhaeghe is.
The Panthers want to keep their guys together as best they can.
They got Verhaeghe done in quick order.
Ekblad and Bennett will probably get done as well, it just may take a little more time.
ON DECK: GAME 2
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