{"id":456026,"date":"2024-11-13T16:48:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=456026"},"modified":"2024-11-13T16:48:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:48:41","slug":"nhl-rumours-florida-panthers-looking-to-keep-key-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/11\/13\/nhl-rumours-florida-panthers-looking-to-keep-key-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Florida Panthers Looking to Keep Key Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another round of NHL rumours. We&#8217;re nearing American Thanksgiving at the end of the month. However, some general managers have already been thinking about making deals. A few of these extensions have already gotten taken care of. However, there are a number of deals left to be signed. The GMs don&#8217;t want key players to get into the open market, so it&#8217;s important to sign these contracts. One of these teams that wants to take care of a key signing is the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/11\/12\/nhl-predictions-nov-12-new-jersey-devils-vs-florida-panthers\/\" target=\"_self\">Florida Panthers.<\/a> This edition of NHL rumours takes a look at how talks may progress with an important player.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Florida Panthers Want to Keep Important Forward<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Former NHLer turned hockey analyst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/jovaned01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ed Jovanovski<\/a> talked about how talks may shape up between the Panthers and impending unrestricted free agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bennesa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Bennett<\/a>. This was during Sportsnet 590 The FAN&#8217;s Hockey Show.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Will Sam Bennett take a team-friendly contract to stay in Florida?<\/p>\n<p>Ed Jovanovski discusses the factors in the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Panthers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Panthers<\/a> forward&#39;s extension negotiations with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mattymar89?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@mattymar89<\/a> &amp; <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutaMichael?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@futamichael<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TimeToHunt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TimeToHunt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>LIVE \u2935\ufe0f<br \/>\ud83d\udcfa <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SqK7M99Bz7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/SqK7M99Bz7<\/a> &amp; <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Sportsnet<\/a> 360<br \/>\ud83d\udcfb <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tEtiRUX67X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/tEtiRUX67X<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0MtYs2ajf6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0MtYs2ajf6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FAN590\/status\/1854588377162821926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Panthers General Manager Bill Zito has done a solid job in keeping together most of their core. There have been a few players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/montobr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Montour<\/a> leave<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/07\/01\/seattle-kraken-brandon-montour-contract\/\" target=\"_self\"> via free agency.<\/a> However, Zito has managed to keep a good portion of this group intact.<\/p>\n<p>Players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tkachma01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/verhaca01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carter Verhaeghe<\/a> and others have helped form a winning culture in the Sunshine State. These players could get more money on the open market, but they may have taken less in order to keep a decent chunk of the roster together.<\/p>\n<p>Zito signed Verhaeghe<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/10\/09\/florida-panthers-re-sign-top-forwards\/\" target=\"_self\"> to an extension<\/a> earlier in the season and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/reinhsa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Reinhart<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/07\/01\/florida-panthers-forward-signs-new-contract\/\" target=\"_self\">inked to a deal<\/a> on July 1. Other players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/barkoal01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aleksander Barkov<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lundean01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anton Lundell<\/a> are also locked to at least the end of the 2030 season.<\/p>\n<h4>Panthers Looking for Bennett to Stay<\/h4>\n<p>Jovanovski said that Bennett likely wants to stay a Panther for most of the rest of his career. The veteran defenceman thinks that contract talks have already started and thinks they&#8217;re going in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett is a useful player that doesn&#8217;t mind getting his nose dirty and will do the little things to help a team win. Players like that getting on the open market will be hot commodities. However, Zito doesn&#8217;t want it to get to that point.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old centre currently carries a cap hit of $4.425 million and is seeking a well-deserved raise. In a previous edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/10\/13\/nhl-rumours-florida-panthers-forward-contract-talks\/\" target=\"_self\">NHL rumours<\/a>, a piece from The Fourth Period mentioned that Bennett could see him get <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.thefourthperiod.com\/oct-2024\/bennett-next-in-line-for-deal-in-florida#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$6 million to $7 million<\/a> depending on term.<\/p>\n<h4>Other Things to Attend To<\/h4>\n<p>Florida will also have figure out what to do with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/ekblaaa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-13_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Ekblad<\/a> in the coming off-season. The veteran blueliner is also a pending UFA and is making $7.5 million per season.<\/p>\n<p>Zito does have tools like no state tax and the nice weather. It also helps that there&#8217;s a winning environment down in Sunrise. Players may be likely to take less if they&#8217;re playing meaningful hockey late in the season.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers still have time to get a deal done. However, it would be a nice Christmas present to get this piece of business taken care of.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo by: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another round of NHL rumours. We&#8217;re nearing American Thanksgiving at the end of the month. However, some general managers have already been thinking about making deals. A few of these extensions have already gotten taken care of. However, there are a number of deals left to be signed. The GMs don&#8217;t want [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":440219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4547,4548,4321],"tags":[346,288,7776,1727],"class_list":["post-456026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-panthers","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-aaron-ekblad","tag-bill-zito","tag-florida-panthers-rumours","tag-sam-bennett"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}