[Signing] Panthers re-sign Bennett (4yrs, $4.425mil AAV)

[Kovaz]

I think this contract, counter-intuitively, makes it more likely that Bennett succeeds in Florida. If you're committing $18M to a player, you're probably gonna put him in a position to succeed even if he's struggling. And to be honest, I think that's gonna make a big difference for Bennett - being able to have a cold streak and still get ~16 minutes a night next to Huberdeau. If he's not looking over his shoulder afraid he'll be demoted to 4LW if he doesn't score on his next shift, he'll be a much more consistent player.

[Textcritic]

I think this is a good contract. If Bennett plays out his four year term in Florida on the second line this is a big win for Florida. I don't expect that to happen—I tend to think he still tops out as a 'tweener bouncing between the second/third line and good for 30–40 pts a season. A $4.0 m cap hit for a mid-roster player like that is just fine.

[Poster]

I recall one of our resident know it all’s insisting this player wouldn’t even be qualified.

Goes to show whose player evaluation you can trust.

[Johnny Makarov]

Fernando Pisani.

You can't teach an old 18 year old hockey IQ.

However it could be that he was just Vitamin D deficient so there might be chance...

[Newton]

I wish him well....

but Bennett is the king of small sample size outstanding play.