Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice provided quite the negative intel on pending unrestricted free agent Sam Bennett after the forward produced an absolutely epic shift in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Bennett, a human wrecking ball on skates, steamrolled two Oilers while backchecking in his own end of the ice in the second period. One of those players, Vasily Podkolzin, picked himself up off the ice in time to collect a pass bat the blue line. However, pressured by Bennett and teammate Carter Verhaeghe, Podkolzin coughed the puck up and the two Panthers forwards took off.
Verhaeghe pushed the puck up ahead, sending Bennett in on a clear breakaway and the 28-year-old didn’t waste the golden opportunity. Bennett went backhand-forehand and roofed a shot up and over Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner to the stick side, putting the Panthers up 4-1 at 7:26 of the second period.
The entire sequence epitomized who Bennett is: a gritty, 200-foot forward, who’s got equal amounts of will and skill. It’s why there might not be a more sought-after player in NHL free agency this summer.
Bennett is beloved by his teammates and despised by 31 other teams. But there’s no debate that the 2024 Stanley Cup champion is a winner.
“He’s so good all over the ice, but he doesn’t cheat the game for the two goals. He’s under the pucks, doing all the hard, right things. That’s just who he is,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice told TNT’s Jackie Redmond during an in-game interview shortly after that massive shift by Bennett.
Redmond then stated the obvious: “I don’t think his agent is going to have to work all that hard this summer, But I’ll move on.”
Maurice could’ve let that comment slide, not wanting to get into free-agency talk in the middle of an important Cup Final game. But that wouldn’t fit with his quirky sense of humor.
So, Maurice sent a cheeky message to teams watching at home and salivating over the pending UFA center.
“He’s got a horrible attitude. I think he’s got the bubonic plague, gunung fever. He’s got a whole bunch of things. We’re not sure he can be cured.”
Which prompted an eye roll from Redmond.
“I know what you’re doing.”
It was a classic light moment amid the intensity of the championship series.
The Panthers took a 2-1 series lead with a convincing 6-1 victory Monday.
Related: Key takeaways from Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final after Oilers lose cool in 6-1 loss to Panthers
Price to sign Panthers forward Sam Bennett in free agency keeps going up during Stanley Cup Playoffs
Bennett’s goal was his League-leading 14th in these playoffs, only his second scored on home ice. He’s scored in each of the first three games and has four goals in this best-of-7 series.
Right now, Bennett is right there as a leading contender to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He nearly scored again early in the third period, when he rang a power-play shot off the post glove-side past Skinner.
Midway through the third, Oilers forward Trent Frederic had had enough of Bennett, and broke his stick cross-checking the Panthers agitator in the ribs. A full-scale brawl broke out, including Bennett wrestling Frederic at center ice — each received a two-minute minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct ending their nights early.
Estimates for what Bennett can make on the open market this offseason range as high as $10-12 million annually. Though word is that the Panthers have no intention of letting him get away.
