One team willing to break the bank for Sam Bennett!
At least one team willing to hit that number for Bennett, would you? More below:
Florida Panthers star forward and pending free agent Sam Bennett has bigger fish to fry right now, competing in the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, but his name keeps getting mentioned as a hot commodity on the market comes July.
Along with Mitch Marner, Bennett is likely to be the most coveted player in free agency this summer, and is expected to command a huge salary. This prompted E.J. Hradek, who works for the NHL, to report there’s “at least” one team willing to give him $10 million a season.
Players like Bennett are rare in the NHL and he could end up with a double digit salary in his pockets. After recording 25 goals and 51 points in 76 games in the regular season, Bennett has scored nine times and added five assists in just 16 playoff contests and has been a wrecking ball on the ice.
However, when the list of pending free agents started to come together, most insiders across the league expected Bennett to land in the range of $6.6 to $8 million per year, a salary raise over his current $4.425 million per season.
But is he really worth $10 million a season? We don’t how how high his value could be with a second Stanley Cup ring if the Panthers go all the way again this summer.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, if the Panthers want to keep Bennett in Florida, they will have to show him the money.
“[Carter] Verhaeghe’s at 8x7, that’s where they want to get [Sam] Bennett… and I think he wants to stay,” Friedman said, projecting Bennett’s next deal.
There is no doubt that teams across the league will make competitive offers regardless of cost. You have to wonder which one will present that high offer to Bennett and if he will accept…
