Huge News For Brandon Montour—On & Off The Ice

Big news from Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice today, as he's announced that top defenseman Brandon Montour is set to make his season debut by the end of their upcoming road trip—which means a return before next Friday. 

Montour has been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and it looks like he'll beat the original six-month timeline by as much as four weeks. 

Although he hasn't played yet this season, Montour has been busy off the ice as well, as he's getting ever-closer to signing a big extension with the Cats. 

Per NHL Insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, they are "inching toward" inking a long-term deal.

Panthers GM Bill Zito and Montour’s camp are zeroing in on a new deal that could fall in the neighbourhood of $7 million per season over seven or eight years. What assists the Panthers on the AAV is Florida’s status as a ‘no state income tax’ state.

Montour, who had a huge breakthrough season in 2022-23 with 73 points (doubling his previous career-high), while logging a massive 24 minutes of ice time a night, is in the final year of his contract that paid him a $3.5M AAV. He appears set to double that as well, according to the report.

Pagnotta says that talks have been ongoing since the offseason, and to not count on him reaching unrestricted free agency next summer. 

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