6 Early Free-Agent Landing Spots for Sam Bennett

It was a fun meme at the start of the playoffs that Sam Bennett was going to make himself a lot of money this summer when he was scoring a few clutch goals early on.

However, now that the Florida Panthers are one win away from their second straight Stanley Cup and Bennett is the leading goal scorer in the postseason with 15 and in position to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP, the meme is reality.

The 28-year-old could not have picked a better time to have another massive performance in the postseason ahead of potentially hitting free agency on July 1.

Which teams make the most sense for Bennett's abilities and hard-nosed style? Who's out there ready to break the bank to prise him out of South Florida?

These are some of the questions we'll answer as we pick out a handful of teams that should want a player like Bennett.

Florida Panthers

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It's no nonsense here with this pick. Bennett has been a huge part of the Panthers' success ever since they acquired him from Calgary. Staying in Florida makes for the best fit.

He is a major reason why the Panthers have gone to the Cup Final three consecutive years and why they're on the verge of winning their second straight title.

During the regular season, his numbers are solid. He had 25 goals this season, three shy of the career-high 28 he scored for Florida in 2021-2022. That he's added 15 more in the playoffs is staggering. He's scored 27 goals in the playoffs the past three years during this incredible run by the Panthers. Clutch isn't a statistic and it's an intangible, but Bennett seems to possess it with his hard-hitting, intense style of play.

If Florida loses him, it won't be because it didn't try to keep him. That said, unless things go really sideways in the Cup Final, there's probably a 90 percent chance Bennett stays with the Panthers.

Toronto Maple Leafs

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If there's any team in the NHL that's desperate to shake off its playoff misery, it's the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And after being eliminated by the Florida Panthers in two of the past three postseasons, the easiest way to strike back at them would be to sign Bennett.

"Easiest" is a relative term here, of course. It would be very expensive for Toronto to sign him. The money they would "save" by watching Mitch Marner or even John Tavares depart in free agency would then go to luring Bennett out of Florida.

It may seem odd for that kind of change, but money talks and the guy helping to do the talking for Toronto, GM Brad Treliving, is the same GM who drafted Bennett in Calgary. He's also the same GM who traded him to Florida and sent him on his way to glory in April 2021.

History and money have a way of working out sometimes, but if the Leafs added Bennett while also losing Marner, the way Toronto plays and responds to teams will change drastically.

Bennett addresses a desperate need in the Leafs lineup and they may have a lot of money at their disposal to make an offer. If Bennett doesn't re-sign with Florida ahead of July 1, Toronto will push hard for his services.

Utah Mammoth

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The top two teams for Bennett are beyond easy to pick out, but the rest is kind of up to us to find a fit both in the roster and salary range.

He might be able to pull down $8 million to $10 million a year in his next contract based on how he's played in Florida, and that's not an easy signing to make for a lot of top contenders.

If you're the Utah Mammoth, it's one you can make and grow up in a big way by doing it.

Utah is in position to really throw its weight around in the Western Conference next season, but it's in need of some other veterans for key roles in the lineup.

Having Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev gives the Mammoth a lot of great weapons. If they're going to mix it up with the Western Conference heavyweights, a player like Bennett would go a long way to helping.

PuckPedia indicates Utah has around $20 million in cap space to play with this summer, and that's more than enough to make an aggressive play for Bennett or anyone else who might pique their interest.

Vancouver Canucks

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Considering what the Canucks dealt with a year ago with the drama surrounding J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson and how the eventual trade loosened things up, it's surprising they were still in the hunt for the playoffs until the end of the season.

Depending on how you want to view that, it should be encouraging for everyone there to want to make a move that could get them back to the playoffs. Signing Bennett in free agency might be that kind of move.

By trading Miller, Vancouver was able to loosen up its budget. It's also a team in need of securing its depth chart up the middle. Pettersson is great and has to return to form, Filip Chytil must rebound from injuries, Teddy Blueger is a solid No. 3 or No. 4 centerman and Max Sasson showed speed and promise.

Adding Bennett to shore up the center spot and inject some life into the team with his physical play and presence makes sense as an idea, but it may not be entirely practical.

Buffalo Sabres

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Who's ready for a great-terrible idea? I knew you would be.

The Buffalo Sabres are set for a potentially messy summer if you believe the speculation swirling around. JJ Peterka may or may not be available, Alex Tuch may or may not want to stay in Buffalo, and Bo Byram may or may not be traded.

That's a lot of stuff out there for a team that's trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and in need of a jolt or two of toughness in the lineup.

Adding a player like Bennett would more than address that and bringing in a champion player is something this young team needs.

However, in 2011, Sabres owner Terry Pegula was new to owning the team and tried to make a splash by signing Ville Leino who was fresh off a great playoff performance against Buffalo.

There was also the Christian Ehrhoff trade and a 10-year, $40 million deal. Since those signings that didn't pan out, Pegula has stayed out of free agency for the most part (Kyle Okposo being the big exception) and tried to find other ways to build a winner but has yet to succeed.

The Sabres would have to offer Bennett an obscene amount of money to commit to them and that's something they've been reticent to do over the past five years.

They have plenty of salary-cap space to work with and Bennett would be a fantastic player to add to the mix they're working with, but it' would be's hard to believe he'd entertain going to Buffalo.

Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets are a team that hasn't exactly gone hog wild in free agency in the past and the idea they would jump in feet first for Bennett seems a bit far-fetched. But hear us out.

The Jets are due to have a lot of salary-cap space this summer (about $26.4 million, per PuckPedia) and although they've got Nikolaj Ehlers set to be a UFA and have RFAs Gabe Vilardi and Dylan Samberg to get figured out, that's still a lot of money to work with.

One position the Jets are a little questionable at is center. Mark Scheifele is elite as their No. 1 pivot and Adam Lowry is outstanding as a defending center, but they could use someone to bolster the rest of the group featuring Vladimir Namestnikov and Morgan Barron.

Adding Bennett to the mix would make a team that already won the Presidents' Trophy that much more difficult to beat and inject more fire into their battles against Colorado, Dallas and St. Louis.

It would be costly, of course, but if Bennett gets a big offer out of them, it would be coming from a team that is a true Stanley Cup contender.