Sam Bennett: Contract Negotiations

[PBPantherfan]

I will say this about Benny.

His regular seasons have never been anything other than solid. Not overly impressive or "memorable" outside a few moments.

But since he arrived, he has been the only player that has gotten better when the post season started. I cant even say that about Barkov except the last 2 years, with the cup run being his biggest step forward.

Tkachuk's first playoff run with us was something to behold. Last April though, outside the Tampa series I felt he was just ordinary. He was pretty much the regular season version outside of maybe being more physical. Benny has always been better than his regular season version every playoff run.

That in itself is hard to let go.

Bennet is the only top 6 player the Panthers have that is mean. He won’t just hit you, he will hurt you when he hits you. Barkov, Swaggy, Rhino, Chucky and Mackie all check and Chuckie is a rat but Benny will knock you out of a game if you aren’t careful. That has an effect on the opposing team, so I really hope they find a way to sign him.

 

[Ghoste]

Like Reino & Swaggy, I’d be shocked if Benny doesn’t re-sign.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Friedman is pretty good. He usually doesn't put something like that out there unless it's true. Not that big. I'm expecting him to re-sign before the playoffs.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Friedman is pretty good. He usually doesn't put something like that out there unless it's true. Not that big. I'm expecting him to re-sign before the playoffs.

I foresee another Reinhart situation where they wait until after playoffs. Same for Ek if they plan to keep him

 

[pb1300]

I'm relatively optimistic about us re-signing Bennett at something resembling a rational contract - I think once they weren't able to get it done earlier in the year, both sides probably wanted to see how the TD panned out before restarting talks, which makes complete sense. Yes, Bennett could definitely get ridiculous sums at FA, but does he actually want to spend the next 8 years of his life being criticised every day for not living up his contract? He knows what that's like from his time in Calgary. Plus, you know, we have palm trees. As for amounts, I'm hoping for around 6m but would be just about OK with 7m.

As an aside, the HF Board shutdown last week forced me to get my dose of fun by listening to Leafs podcasts. My God, the amount of thirsting over Bennett... I mean, I remember being a teenage girl crushing over boys, but the amount of infatuated gushing over him got slightly uncomfortable - I felt like I needed to give these podcast hosts some privacy. We all love Benny but he's not going to fix everything that's wrong with your lives. Plus, he's just not that into you, sweetie.

Benny was a Leafs fan as a kid, and there has been talk that he wants to play there at some point in his career. This is what worries me now about him re-signing. With the cap going up, it helps the Leafs out with being able to sign him. He is exactly the type of player they need up front, so I hope he can sign him before the end of the season.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Benny was a Leafs fan as a kid, and there has been talk that he wants to play there at some point in his career. This is what worries me now about him re-signing. With the cap going up, it helps the Leafs out with being able to sign him. He is exactly the type of player they need up front, so I hope he can sign him before the end of the season.

If they overpay Bennett, it's because one of Marner/Tavares is not coming back IMO.

Knies needs a new deal as well.

 

[StrangeVision]

Just pay the man, it’s that simple. He makes us a better team and has an x-factor that will be hard to replace.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Just pay the man, it’s that simple. He makes us a better team and has an x-factor that will be hard to replace.

If it's 8 or less , Zito would be stupid not to do it .

 

[austropanther]

If it's 8 or less , Zito would be stupid not to do it .

If a guy gets a player to sign a teamfriendly deal, it's Bill Zito.

I will never forget his press conference after signing Gus. He made it feel like it was not one bit about the money but only about the character of the involved people. He could pull this off with Benny too - he kind of did with Reino and Swaggy as well

 

[Dread Clawz]

If a guy gets a player to sign a teamfriendly deal, it's Bill Zito.

I will never forget his press conference after signing Gus. He made it feel like it was not one bit about the money but only about the character of the involved people. He could pull this off with Benny too - he kind of did with Reino and Swaggy as well

I hope it's the same.