3 Players Entering Final Season With Florida Panthers

Coming off a Stanley Cup win, the Florida Panthers already changed their roster a bit and had to say goodbye to some players on expiring contracts looking for more well-earned money and opportunities. That being said, they will be a contender once again and the team won't be able to or want to keep some players around. Here's a look at who will be playing their final or one and only season with the Panthers.

Sam Bennett

The Panthers will seemingly only get one more year of Sam Bennett unless he takes a discount. Realistically, Anton Lundell can slot in as the second line center moving forward and Florida needs to allocate money to signing Carter Verhaeghe over Bennett. He also hasn't played a full season since 2017-18 and even though the Panthers have managed to power through injuries to some of their top players lately, it's not exactly a recipe for success to invest in someone like that. One more year under contract seems about right for Bennett in Florida.

Nate Schmidt

The Panthers have done well with taking in players who were cast off by other teams and turning them around. This happened with Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Mason Marchment to name a few in recent memory. Now Nate Schmidt is coming off being bought out of the final year of his deal in Winnipeg and will slot in on the Panthers defense. He was effective for a good portion of his career, but became overpaid. I see him bouncing back with Florida to a degree and then leaving too as the Panthers continue to run this cycle of getting players for cheap.

Tomas Nosek

Tomas Nosek had a down season after his first six seasons were very consistent. He ended 2023-24 with the New Jersey Devils scoring only two goals and six points in 36 games while playing the least he has since 2019-20. He is not going to play anywhere higher than the fourth line in Florida and even if he can bounce back, he isn't an everyday player. There should be younger players coming in to replace the veteran on a one-year deal or the team will sign someone else as there are always options in free agency nowadays.