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The Florida Panthers enter the offseason with a bitter style of their mouth. They got here simply wanting profitable the oldest trophy in North American sports activities as they dropped the Stanley Cup Final in 5 video games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
They made various small signings each within the ahead and defensive departments corresponding to ahead Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Oliver-Ekman Larsson. Those strikes depart the group with solely a bit of greater than $300,000 in cap house to play with.
This season, ahead Sam Reinhart is within the remaining season of his present three-year deal. Even although it’s additional down the highway, this could possibly be an enormous scenario contemplating the cash Florida presently has.
Reinhart is Going to Want a Pay Raise
Over the previous two seasons, Reinhart had simply one of the best time of his profession. In the 2021-22 season, he hit a brand new profession excessive in objectives with 33, assists with 49, and total factors with 82. In addition, he scored his first profession playoff purpose after not making a single postseason look with the Buffalo Sabres in seven straight seasons.
Through his two seasons with the Cats, he has scored 64 objectives and 85 assists by way of 160 video games. In the playoffs, he discovered the again of the online 11 instances and tallied six assists by way of 31 playoff appearances.
Related: Panthers Roster Might Be Missing Ekblad & Montour for a While
Currently, Reinhart makes $6.5 million a 12 months. With the large influence he’s made within the Panthers lineup each within the common season and postseason, he’s greater than doubtless going to need a larger common annual worth (AAV) across the $7 or $8 million vary. It’s not too farfetched contemplating how lengthy it took to get his first contract in Florida taken care of as soon as the commerce was initiated.
Could Reinhart Be Traded?
There is at all times the potential for a commerce. Since free company began, Reinhart has been the subject of trade rumors. As beforehand talked about, the Panthers made a ton of strikes on protection. However, they have expressed interest in Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanafin. Getting $6.5 million off of the books wouldn’t solely cowl the deal to usher in Hanafin, however it additionally provides them an additional $1 million to make one other small signing as Hanafin’s contract is value $4.95 million AAV.
Related: Grading the Sharks’ Trade for Anthony Duclair from the Panthers
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In addition, basic supervisor Bill Zito has proven that he’s not afraid to commerce a top-six ahead for cap house as evidenced by his trading of Anthony Duclair simply final week. Reinhart could possibly be the subsequent one on the chopping block.
Is an Extension Still within the Cards?
It’s no secret that the entrance workplace, teaching employees, and locker room need to hold Reinhart round. And judging by the point he’s had in his two years as a Cat, it’s very doubtless he needs to proceed being a Broward County resident. But it’s unknown if an extension is feasible or if he’s keen to take a team-friendly deal. Additionally, there could possibly be a ton of big-name free brokers in the marketplace subsequent season corresponding to Toronto Maple Leafs ahead Auston Matthews and Carolina Hurricanes ahead Sebastian Aho.
What Can Zito Do?
All Zito can do is just wait it out. If Reinhart thrives as soon as once more this upcoming season, he’s going to need to make a tricky resolution. For now, Zito can get pleasure from his talents and see the place they take the group. They simply got here off of arguably their greatest season in franchise historical past. Reinhart is hungry to get again to that stage as soon as once more. Only this time, he needs to elevate it himself relatively than watch his opponent achieve this.
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