Playoff MVP Sam Bennett agrees on 8-year, $64 million contract to stay with Florida Panthers

SUNRISE Fla AP Sam Bennett walked to the front of the stage at the Florida Panthers latest Stanley Cup championship parade and before he could even speak the crowd began serenading him with their request Eight more years Eight more years they chanted over and over They got their wish Bennett who led the NHL with goals in this year s playoffs and became the first Panthers athlete ever to figure that a great number of in a single postseason is staying with the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions He and Florida agreed Friday to a new eight-year contract worth million or million per season Sam is a special contestant who has mastered a unique blend of skill and physicality in his meeting becoming one of the the greater part impactful postseason performers of his generation Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito disclosed He played an integral role in our two Stanley Cup championships earning the franchise s first Conn Smythe trophy and is a dedicated contributor to our South Florida society off the ice We are thrilled that he will continue his career with the Panthers Bennett was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs the first Florida contestant to ever win that award The last time a Conn Smythe winner didn t open the following season with the same group he had that playoff run with was when goaltender Mike Vernon helped Detroit win that year s Cup and then the Red Wings traded him to San Jose that summer It is the first of three big decisions that the Panthers have been waiting on heading into free agency the others being what forward Brad Marchand a agreement deadline pickup who became an enormous part of the run to this Cup and defenseman Aaron Ekblad will do going forward The Bennett signing is another huge move by Zito who now has eight players all of them key parts of the squad under contract with the Panthers through at least the - season Bennett joins Aleksander Barkov Matthew Tkachuk Sam Reinhart Carter Verhaeghe Anton Lundell Seth Jones and Gustav Forsling on that list The raise is a massive one for Bennett who just finished the final year of a four-year contract that paid him just under million He had a postseason like almost none other the only other participant to have at least goals and penalty minutes in the same playoff run was Pittsburgh s Kevin Stevens in He had given indications throughout this offseason process including at a nightclub during the Panthers days-long initial Cup celebration that he intended to remain in Florida but nothing got officially done until Friday Bennett is coming off perhaps his finest season with goals and assists in the regular season for a career-best points