Panthers optimistic about re-signing All-Star center

Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart.

The Florida Panthers are optimistic about their ability to re-sign star forward Sam Reinhart, general manager Bill Zito tells Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. Zito adds that the team may not have enough cap space to bring back both Reinhart and top-pair defenseman Brandon Montour. He said, “We’re going to spend to the cap… I’m going to spend it all, so you want [cap space], and I don’t have it, I can’t manufacture it. It’s frustrating, it’s harder, perhaps, but there’s really nothing you can do.”

The Panthers are entering the summer with $19.52M in projected cap space and a daunting 13 pending free agents. In addition to Reinhart and Montour, Florida will have to negotiate with Vladimir Tarasenko, Anton Lundell, and Anthony Stolarz. Each player could demand chunks of Florida’s remaining funds, especially as Zito says the team aims to bring back as much of their first Stanley Cup-winning roster as possible.

To do that successfully, Florida must first get by Reinhart’s contract without spending half their budget. It seems hard to tell how much the 28-year-old winger could demand on a new deal after posting a dazzling 57 goals and 94 points this season. The performance was the most goals ever posted by a Panther not named Pavel Bure — and proceeded to two 30-goal seasons in Reinhart’s first two years with the Panthers. He’s carried his scoring tough into the postseason, with 20 goals and 32 points in 53 playoff games since joining Florida in 2021. Reinhart also carries draft precedent, having gone second overall in 2014. While that latter point may not be much of a reason to pay him more, it could be a reason not to pay him less.

An ideal world could see Reinhart sign a deal similar to the eight-year, $72M deal former teammate Jeff Skinner just had bought out by the BuffaloSabres. Skinner doesn’t seem to be in much of a place to vindicate the deal’s second half, but it was enough to control him through strong seasons with the Sabres. Reinhart, who has performed at a higher and more consistent level than Skinner, could make a structure like this look much better and likely won’t be as quick to fall off, though Skinner’s buyout could be a good forewarning to the Panthers to avoid long term.

That structure would leave Florida with over $10M for the rest of their summer. That certainly won’t be enough to make all of the moves they’d surely like to make, including bringing back Montour after a career-high 73 points last season. Montour brought that scoring back to 33 points this year, though he’s still commanded a prominent role in Florida’s top four. It has been rumored that the Panthers will be shopping around star defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who would open the cap space to move forward with Montour and Gustav Forsling as top pairs.

But even that could be a tall order, as teams face more cap headaches than anyone wants. Florida is among the most stressed, as they look to rebuild as good a lineup as possible while sticking to their budget.

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