[Signing] Panthers sign Nick Bjugstad to 6 year extension ($4.1mil AAV)

[Azure]

One of the big reasons Florida is the most exciting team in the NHL this year.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Unless you're the Oilers you don't really need to sign an RFA for a ton of money (elite guys who you want to lock up being an exception). These guys just don't have any leverage until they hit UFA age.

Your alternative is going to contract-war with a player you already want to tie yourself to long-term. If Montreal had done this with Subban, they would have saved themselves probably 1-1.5M per season over the course of the next 6 or so years.

Had we gone after Brodie as soon as Jan 1 hit this year, maybe we could have pulled him in at 4M vs. 4.65.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Azure

One of the big reasons Florida is the most exciting team in the NHL this year.

Honestly, they remind me a lot of last year's Flames, except much better goaltending. They work hard and play with energy. They have an underrated defense led by some young players (Ekblad, Kulikov, Gudbranson, Olsen) and a veteran captain who demands work ethic and is a great leader (Mitchell). They have a young offensive center who can play both sides of the puck well (Monahan=Bjugstad). They have a small dynamic winger who is on the cusp of making the NHL but isn't quite ready (Baertschi=Grimaldi). They have a lot of good prospects close to making the jump on both offense and defense. They drafted two studs at center for their top two lines for the foreseeable future (Monahan/Bennett=Barkov/Bjugstad).

The Panthers have made a big jump from last year by bringing in a lot of veterans to teach a winning atmosphere. Eventually those veterans will be replaced by the players they are drafting and developing. For the foreseeable future they have this as their center depth:

Bjugstad
Barkov
Bolland/Trocheck
Bolland/Trocheck

They also have Grimaldi, Rau, and Hawryluk as prospects at center right now. Future looks good.