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.

 

[Gizmoskevich]

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.

 

[Gizmoskevich]

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.

 

[LexAsh]

The Tkachuk trade pushed the Panthers over the finish line, but it was the Bennett acquisition that changed the culture. I can't see Zito letting him go. The way he steps up in the playoffs is such a rare comodity and cant be taught. He is fairly irreplaceable.

 

[TheImpatientBoomer]

Would you believe Bennett has more playoff points than Reinhart since 2020-21?

Bennett: 14 goals, 37 points in 54 games
Reinhart: 21 goals, 33 points in 55 games

 

[KW]

Would you believe Bennett has more playoff points than Reinhart since 2020-21?

Bennett: 14 goals, 37 points in 54 games
Reinhart: 21 goals, 33 points in 55 games

A bit surprising to me. Here are the top 10 in points, and in PPG:
Tkachuk 1.05
Verhaeghe 0.87
Barkov 0.83
Huberdeau 0.81
Bennett 0.69
Reinhart 0.60
Lundell 0.52
Montour 0.44
Forsling 0.43
Ekblad 0.31

 

[IdleTraveller]

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.

It feels like 31 other teams would LOVE to sign Bennett, judging by the discussion on the main boards. And the Leafs are definitely one, particularly if Marner walks: there's so much chatter about how they're "soft" etc that I think they just feel that he's the answer to all their problems.

I may well eat my words later but I'm pretty optimistic that we'll manage to sign both Bennett and Ekblad to team friendly deals. Benny's had his experience in Calgary and knows what it's like to have that pressure of expectations and under-perform them, particularly in a Canadian market. Talks have started up again which seems to suggest that there's interest on both sides. As for Ekky, I'm hopeful that the PED suspension guilts him into going along with whatever deal Zito waves in his face. He comes across as a lovable golden retriever type and I'm crossing my fingers that he cares more about staying in the only organisation that he knows, particularly now that it's doing well.

 

[FloridaMan]

Would you believe Bennett has more playoff points than Reinhart since 2020-21?

Bennett: 14 goals, 37 points in 54 games
Reinhart: 21 goals, 33 points in 55 games

Additionally, Benny has some extra points for erasing Slavin and Marchand in PO

 

[FloridaMan]

It feels like 31 other teams would LOVE to sign Bennett, judging by the discussion on the main boards. And the Leafs are definitely one, particularly if Marner walks: there's so much chatter about how they're "soft" etc that I think they just feel that he's the answer to all their problems.

Well, you gotta admit that replacing Tavares with Bennett would be an upgrade, especially come playoff time, so I'm not surprised by that kind of talk. Tavares takes $11 million, so if they let him go, they’d have a bunch of money to throw around.

 

[Gentle Man]

Additionally, Benny has some extra points for erasing Slavin and Marchand in PO

Leafs fans mad you forgot Knies

 

[RogerRoger]

Well, you gotta admit that replacing Tavares with Bennett would be an upgrade, especially come playoff time, so I'm not surprised by that kind of talk. Tavares takes $11 million, so if they let him go, they’d have a bunch of money to throw around.

If they sign Knies for 9M, that'll eat up quite a bit of that cap space.

 

[Idiot Stick]

come on zito

sign this man

 

[Dread Clawz]

come on zito

sign this man

It'll get done. It has to .

 

[zeroG]

It'll get done. It has to .

i hope so as well. but we need to temper expectations. if it hasn't happened yet, it's not going to happen until the playoffs end, like with reino last year. i just can't imagine zito and bennet want the distraction at this point.

 

[Dread Clawz]

i hope so as well. but we need to temper expectations. if it hasn't happened yet, it's not going to happen until the playoffs end, like with reino last year. i just can't imagine zito and bennet want the distraction at this point.

I kinda agree at this point, I think it'll get done eventually. Unless we find out later that Benny wanted something insane like 9+ M.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

I think the silence on contract discussions and what-not is actually a good sign in this situation.

Both parties seem to have respect for each other and I think a deal is going to get done. I think it's close and so close that it's almost an after-thought. I feel this way because I remember hearing a month or so ago that Bennett was in contract negotiations. I feel as though maybe they got very close but decided to shift focus to the playoffs before signing the deal as others have mentioned. Rid themselves of the distraction for now.

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part but not a soul in the organization seems panicked or has indicated any concern as to whether or not Bennett is coming back, and everyone knows how important he is to the team so that wouldn't just be held under wraps if there WERE concerns.

 

[I am not exposed]

He's going to Toronto for 9m+.

And for that amount, they can have him.

And I was one of the few who was really excited when we traded for him from Calgary.

 

[Chaos2k7]

He's going to Toronto for 9m+.

And for that amount, they can have him.

And I was one of the few who was really excited when we traded for him from Calgary.

No he isn't. Benny wants to win and not regular season games.