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A Look at the Florida Panthers’ Cap Situation Suggests that a Dynasty is Upon Us
Published:
The Panthers repeated with a 4-2 series win over the Oilers on Tuesday night:
What a team. Just a machine out there. Quality at every level, from the stars to the third liners, goaltending and coaching ranks. That’s three finals appearances in a row and two titles in three years.
Unfortunately for the rest of the NHL, they’re in a position to run it back, because their cap situation is very good. These are their key free agents:
- Sam Bennett
- Aaron Ekblad
- Brad Marchand
That’s pretty much it. The group of Alex Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Seth Jones, Gustav Forsling, and Anton Lundell is under contract through 2030. Sergei Bobrovsky has one more year at 10 million. Most of these guys are still under 30. Projected cap space for 2025 is around $19 million, so they’re in position to offer all three of Bennett, Ekblad, and Marchand, who earned about $18 million last year. They’ll probably get at least two of those three guys back, then fill out the squad with role players, benefiting once again from no state income tax in Florida, which means these guys can sign for “less” money than what other teams might offer, but their take home amounts will be exactly the same. The salary cap is also increasing in the coming years, so factor that in when you’re looking at the type of long-term deals that guys like Bennett have earned.
The good news for the Flyers is that they’re still rebuilding, so they can continue to quietly straighten things out while being not even close to a contender. Then the Panthers eventually fall off, and BAM! The Orange and Black take over the Eastern Conference. Get ready for it.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com