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Panthers Sign Paul Maurice To Multi-Year Extension

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The Florida Panthers have announced a multi-year contract extension for head coach Paul Maurice. The exact duration or terms of the contract haven’t yet been revealed.

Maurice has already stamped his place in Florida’s record books, joining the team ahead of the 2022-23 season and immediately leading the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1996. They’d ultimately fall to a red-hot Vegas Golden Knights team, but Maurice one-upped the performance last season when he returned Florida to the Cup Finals and this time trumped Edmonton in a seven-game series. For all of the efforts of Florida’s stars – namely Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Sergei Bobrovsky – in the postseason runs, it was the full-team-effort driving Florida’s ship in both years. Players like Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko all found ways to step up at the perfect moments, speaking to Maurice’s ability to motivate his team from top-to-bottom.

Now in the early going of his third year with the club, Maurice has already become the third-winningest coach (98 wins) in Panthers history – behind Jacques Martin (110 wins) and Peter DeBoer (103 wins). Maurice has also won more playoff games (45) than any other Panthers coach. Interestingly, this multi-year extension will make Maurice the longest-tenured coach in Panthers history. Nine different coaches – including DeBoer, Martin, Joel Quenneville, and Mike Keenan – have coached three seasons in Florida, but only Maurice has found the success needed to stick around longer.

Maurice’s success in the hockey world extends far beyond his time in Florida. He began his coaching career in 1987-88, when he served as a player/coach for the OHL’s Windsor Compuware Spitfires. That was his fourth year of OHL hockey – and while he only managed 40 points in 189 games as a player, he clearly found a fit behind the bench. He stuck around Windsor for two more years before supporting youth hockey in Detroit for six years – then taking his talents to the NHL’s Hartford Whalers bench in 1995-96. He started as an assistant coach, but was promoted to head coach less than a month into the season. Maurice took control of an absolutely loaded roster, led by Brendan Shanahan, Geoff Sanderson, and Jeff Brown. He stuck with the team through their move to Carolina in 1997, and even stuck around long enough to watch over his modern day competition – current Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour and Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams.

Maurice missed the playoffs in five of his eight years with the Whalers/Hurricanes – and not even a Finals appearance in 2002 was enough to protect him from being fired after a 8-12-10 start to the 2003-04 season. He took one season away – but returned as the AHL Toronto Marlies head coach in 2005-06, and returned to NHL coaching in 2006-07. He’s been leading top-tier benches ever since, with his journey taking him through a brief stint in Toronto, a return to Carolina, and even one year with the KHL’s Metallurg during the 2012 NHL lockout. Maurice returned from the vacation to Russia as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, where he’d spend the next nine seasons. He made the postseason in five of those campaigns, pulling Winnipeg from a middling role in the Central Division into playoff consistency that continues even today.

Including his 4-2-1 record to start this season, Maurice has accrued an 873-738-99-145 record across 28 seasons in the NHL. He ranks second in all-time games coached (1,909) behind all-time-great Scotty Bowman (2,141). Maurice would need to coach three more seasons to pass Bowman’s record. He’ll need to keep winning to catch up to other records – leading all active coaches in wins but ranked fourth in all-time wins (873) behind Bowman (1,244), Quenneville (969), and Barry Trotz (914).

Matthew Tkachuk Expected To Return Tomorrow Night

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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have gotten off to a strong start this season to the tune of a 4-2-1 record which becomes more impressive when considering the team has been without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for five games. The latter has been out for more than a week with an illness but should return tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild according to David Dwork of The Hockey News.

Tkachuk managed two assists in two games for the Panthers to start the season before exiting the lineup on October 14th. He’s expected to slot in on the right wing next to familiar linemates Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.

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Panthers Begin Extension Talks With Sam Bennett

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Earlier this month, the Panthers got a deal done with one of their prominent pending unrestricted free agents when they signed winger Carter Verhaeghe to an eight-year, $56MM extension.  Now, it appears they’ve turned their focus to another key forward as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that the team has started extension discussions with center Sam Bennett.  He also noted that this is just the start of talks and that no new deal is necessarily imminent.

The 28-year-old was the fourth overall pick by Calgary back in 2014 but never really seemed to live up to those high expectations.  Over his five full seasons with them, he only reached the 30-point mark once.  Eventually, that led to them flipping Bennett to Florida for a second-round pick and prospect Emil Heineman (who was later dealt to Montreal).

With the Panthers, Bennett’s fortunes have changed substantially.  Offensively, he has been more impactful, collecting at least 40 points in each of his first three seasons with the team while adding a 28-goal effort in 2021-22.  He’s off to a solid start on that front this year as well with seven points in as many outings.  Bennett also has gone back to being a full-time center after primarily playing on the wing with the Flames and from a value standpoint, middlemen are worth more than a winger.

Of course, Bennett’s contributions aren’t just on the offensive side of things as he is also a prominent power forward.  Those players tend to get a premium on their contracts, especially in UFA-eligible seasons.  Bennett also played a prominent role in Florida’s last two playoff runs, including their 2024 Stanley Cup title so he also has that on his side in discussions.

Accordingly, all signs point to Bennett landing a considerable raise on his current $4.425MM AAV.  But how much of one can Florida realistically afford?  That’s where things could get a bit more interesting.

The Panthers have Aleksander Barkov signed through 2029-30 at $10MM per season.  It’s safe to say he’s not going anywhere.  They also committed $5MM per year to Anton Lundell through 2029-30.  Lundell as their third center is a nice luxury to have while they can afford it but Bennett’s contract is likely to push past the $6MM mark on a long-term pact.  Barring a position change for one of Bennett or Lundell, that would be a lot to commit long-term to a third-line player.

As things stand, Florida has a little over $73MM committed to 16 players for next season, per PuckPedia.  With the expectation of another few million being added to the current $88MM Upper Limit, there’s definitely room for them to afford that type of contract.  But it should be noted that Aaron Ekblad’s deal is also expiring so they will need to re-sign or replace him.  While there’s room for one more pricey contract on their books, fitting two in – Bennett plus an Ekblad re-signing or a newcomer to take his place – would be a lot trickier.

But even with that in mind, parting with an impactful center would be hard to do and it’s fair to say that Bennett would have a very strong market next summer if he were to reach free agency in July.  We’ll see in the coming weeks if the two sides can work something out.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Gadjovich Out Tonight, Team Issues Updates On Tkachuk, Barkov, And Nosek

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Already missing three forwards due to illness or injuries, the Panthers won’t have forward Jonah Gadjovich available to them tonight against Vegas due to an undisclosed injury, relays team reporter Jameson Olive.  The 26-year-old has taken a regular turn on the fourth line so far this season, picking up a goal in Florida’s first six games.  As Florida doesn’t have enough cap space to afford a recall from the minors, they will dress just 17 skaters for this one, ten forwards and seven blueliners.

It’s not all bad news on that front, however.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated that winger Matthew Tkachuk is expected to return from his illness on Tuesday while captain Aleksander Barkov should be back not long after that.  Meanwhile, Tomas Nosek is due to return early next month for their Global Series games.  With that in mind, while the Panthers will be eligible for a cap-exempt recall after tonight’s contest, they’re unlikely to actually need to use it.

Florida's Aleksander Barkov Resumes Skating

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The return of the Florida Panthers’ captain is imminent. Colby Guy of The Associated Press reported earlier that Aleksander Barkov resumed skating this morning although he did not participate in the full practice.

The Panthers haven’t struggled much in Barkov’s absence with a 3-2-0 record in five contests. They line up against the struggling Vancouver Canucks with a chance to take an early lead in a competitive Atlantic Division.

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Anton Strålman To Retire

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Longtime NHL defender Anton Strålman has retired, as noted by Robin Olausson of Hockey Sverige. Neither he nor the NHL Alumni Association have made an official announcement, but he’s now joined Swedish women’s soccer club Skultorps IF as a coach, Olausson said.

Strålman’s NHL career all but ended over a year ago. After managing to land a contract off a PTO with the Bruins in training camp in 2022, he failed to stick around at the NHL level, playing just eight games for Boston and spending a good chunk of the 2022-23 campaign in AHL Providence. A free agent last summer, he returned home to put a bookend on his career by suiting up for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League, where he had 16 points (2 G, 14 A), 10 PIMs, and a -12 rating in 48 games. He added an assist and a +3 rating in their relegation series against IK Oskarshamn to help them stay at the top level of the Swedish pyramid.

The 38-year-old was once one of the more underrated two-way defenders in the NHL. Drafted 216th overall by the Maple Leafs in 2005, Strålman broke into the NHL three years later. After a pair of seasons covering depth bottom-pairing duties for Toronto, he was traded to the Flames and then flipped again to the Blue Jackets in the 2009 offseason.

The move to Columbus is what truly jumpstarted his career. Strålman’s first season in Ohio saw him average over 20 minutes per game and break out for 34 points in 73 contests. He’d regress to a goal and 18 points in 51 games the following year, though, marking the end of his brief stint with the Jackets. He was non-tendered and became a UFA in 2011 at the age of 24, and he needed to wait until after the 2011-12 campaign started to catch on with his next NHL team – the Rangers.

In New York, Strålman’s game never popped offensively, but he did do well to establish himself as a reliable defensive presence who could shoulder second-pairing minutes. He averaged 18:22 per game in the Big Apple with solid possession metrics, posting a 54.3 CF% in front of expert goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist to lead to a cumulative +32 rating in 182 appearances for the Rangers, adding seven goals and 31 assists for 38 points.

That showing boosted his market value significantly heading into free agency in 2014, landing a five-year, $22.5MM deal with the Lightning that stands as the most lucrative contract of his career. His play popped accordingly in Tampa Bay, immediately making an impact with a career-high 30 assists and 39 points in 82 games before the Bolts marched their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Strålman maintained a high level of play in Tampa, averaging around 30 points per 82 games and logging nearly 22 minutes per game, with a cumulative +80 rating across his five-year deal.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t a part of their three straight Stanley Cup Final runs from 2020 to 2022. He priced himself out of Tampa upon reaching free agency again in 2019, instead inking a three-year, $16.5MM contract with the intrastate rival Panthers. That marked the beginning of the end of his NHL career, and by Year 2 of the contract, he’d fallen out of a top-four role. He had nine points in 38 games for Florida in 2020-21, leading them to surrender a second-round pick to dump the final year of his deal at a $5.5MM cap hit on the Coyotes.

Strålman did have a brief resurgence on a thin Arizona blue line, rebounding for 23 points in 74 games in 2021-22 while averaging 21:20 per game. It was his best offensive total in five years, and his highest usage in four, but his once-sparking possession metrics continued to dip below average. He needed the aforementioned PTO with Boston to keep his NHL career alive the following year before heading home in 2023.

All told, Strålman finishes his NHL career with 63 goals, 230 assists, 293 points, a +46 rating, and a 51.3 CF% in 938 appearances while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. He made the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years with the Rangers and Lightning and totaled 26 points and a -4 rating in 113 playoff games. PHR wishes Strålman the best in the next phase of his career.

Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk Expected To Miss A Week

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Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shared that superstar Matthew Tkachuk is expected to miss about a week with an illness. Maurice said that the team is targeting Florida’s October 22nd matchup against the Minnesota Wild as Tkachuk’s return date. He already missed one game with the ailment, sitting out of Florida’s Saturday loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Tkachuk joins linemate Aleksander Barkov in Florida’s press box – though, with illness, hopefully not sitting too close – while Barkov nurses a week-to-week, lower-body injury of his own. Maurice shared on Sunday that Barkov is expected to miss two-to-three weeks, targeting a return before November.

Tkachuk has continued his starring role in Florida, recording 2’s across the board so far – with a stat line that reads two games played, two assists, two penalty minutes, and a +2. He was a pivotal in Florida’s run to their first Stanley Cup last season, netting 26 goals and 88 points in the regular season and 22 points in 24 postseason games. That wasn’t enough to earn Tkachuk any votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP last year, though he did receive one vote in 2023 – after netting 24 points in 20 games of Florida’s other run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Regardless of award voting, Tkachuk has proven the premier scorer on Florida’s lineup, stamped by a career-high 109 points in his first season with the team. His role will be daunting to replace, and likely force Florida to lean much more on secondary scorer Sam Reinhart. Rookie Mackie Samoskevich could also get a boost, though three scoreless games to start this season now have him up to 10 NHL games without his first career point. If not Samoskevich, then next up would be fellow rookie Patrick Giles.

Atlantic Notes: Barkov, Tavares, Power, Greenway, Peterka

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7:00 PM : Toronto Maple Leafs centerman John Tavares missed the team’s Saturday matchup with illness.

10:00 AM : Imaging has revealed that Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov’s lower-body injury did not involve an ankle fracture (per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). That’s in line with David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period’s report yesterday that Barkov avoided the worst-case scenario after crashing into the boards near the end of Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Senators and is out a few weeks with a lower-body injury.

It’ll still be a while before we see Barkov back on the ice, but it’s at least confirmation that he should be expected back around the end of the month. He also hasn’t been moved to long-term injured reserve (or injured reserve at all) yet, although that could come if the Panthers need more roster flexibility. They’ve already recalled Patrick Giles from AHL Charlotte in response to his injury and moved Tomáš Nosek to LTIR to create cap room to accommodate Giles.

In the meantime, Barkov’s absence provides plenty of opportunity for usual middle-six pivots Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell to see some more ice time. That could benefit Bennett’s point totals in a contract year, while Lundell is looking to prove he can shoulder heavier usage after inking a six-year, $30MM deal this summer.

Barkov, 29, had an assist and a -1 rating in two contests this year. He was his usual dominant self in the faceoff circle, winning 30% of his draws.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Maple Leafs center John Tavares didn’t practice with the team this morning due to illness, the team said. He’s now likely questionable for tonight’s game against the Penguins. If he can’t go, line rushes indicate that Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann will slide up to the second line to play with William Nylander while Max Domi drops down from second-line left wing to third-line center, per David Alter of The Hockey News. Enforcer Ryan Reaves would also re-enter the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch for Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Devils. Tavares, 34, has a goal and a +1 rating in two appearances thus far.
  • Any concerns about Sabres Jordan Greenway and Owen Power missing tonight’s game after taking maintenance days yesterday have been quelled after they returned to practice this morning, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Winger John-Jason Peterka is also once again on the ice, marking the fourth straight day he’s been with the team while recovering from a concussion sustained during the Global Series earlier this month. He missed the home opener against the Kings on Thursday but appears to be an option to return tonight.

Barkov To Miss Two To Three Weeks, Tkachuk (Illness) Out Tonight

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2:00 PM : The lower-body injury to Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won’t keep him out for long.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link) that the center is expected to miss two to three weeks and is expected to be ready to play by the time Florida heads overseas in early November for games in Barkov’s native Finland, if not before then.  That means he shouldn’t miss any more time relative to his original week-to-week designation.  The 29-year-old has been a high-end two-way top center for several seasons now and has put up at least 78 points in each of the last three seasons.  Harrington also noted that Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk won’t play tonight against Buffalo although his absence isn’t injury-related but rather due to illness.

Panthers Recall Patrick Giles

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With the Panthers needing some extra depth up front in the wake of the Aleksander Barkov injury that will keep him out for a few weeks at least, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Patrick Giles from AHL Charlotte.

The 24-year-old signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent back in 2022 following a four-year run at Boston College.  He has yet to play at the NHL level but took a step forward offensively last season, notching 13 goals and 10 assists in 66 games with the Checkers.

Giles was one of the final cuts at training camp for the Panthers after they gave him a long look in the preseason.  He led the team in scoring with two goals and four assists while suiting up in seven of eight games as they gave him a chance to earn a spot on the fourth line.  He didn’t get it then but he should get that opportunity now.

While Florida had two open roster spots and thus technically didn’t need a corresponding move to open one up, there still needed to be a corresponding transaction for cap reasons.  Prior to the recall, the team only had $556K in cap space, not enough to afford Giles at his $775K price tag.  With that in mind, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that center Tomas Nosek has been transferred to LTIR, meaning he’ll be out for at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the season (the placement can be retroactive to the start of the year) while freeing up enough space to add Giles to the roster.

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