Sam Bennett is 'the definition of a playoff player.' That's paying dividends for Panthers.

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on Jun 1, 2025

Published in Hockey

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MIAMI — Sam Bennett came to the Florida Panthers a little over four years ago in need of a change of scenery and a fresh chance. He wasn’t living up to the expectations of a top-five pick through his first five-plus seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, who traded him to Florida in April 2021.

Little did Bennett know how much things would change.

The center has thrived ever since joining the Panthers. His brute force and scoring touch were the perfect blend of physicality and finesse Florida needed and a dominant style of game that carries over into the postseason.

“The definition of a playoff player,” as Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk, who was also Bennett’s teammate in Calgary, put it.

That has especially been on display this postseason. Heading into the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, with Game 1 at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday and with a chance to repeat as champions on the horizon, Bennett leads the NHL with 10 goals and is second league-wide with 85 hits while averaging about 17 minutes of ice time per game.

“I always felt the need to perform when the game’s the biggest,” Bennett said. “It’s something I’ve always prided myself on.”

There’s a reason coach Paul Maurice has called Sam Bennett an “identity player” for the Panthers. How he is playing now — and how he plays all season — is a striking image of all of what Maurice prioritizes.

And it’s what has played a major part in Bennett being able to excel once he got here.

“In the playoffs all the elements of our game are intensified, they’re all present, so the best guys can do all things. The very best players can excel in all areas,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “They can play physical. They can play hard. They can skate. They can drive. They can make plays. They are excited about the opportunity and thus they don’t wilt under the pressure or the moment. A lot of those guys play a version of that in the regular season. Sam is not far off. He plays pretty similar to that game all year. He plays pretty darn hard. So it’s not a major shift for him.”

That major shift came four years ago when he first got to Florida. He knew he had a new opportunity to showcase himself after things flamed out in Calgary.

He immediately began producing. He had 15 points in his first 10 games with the Panthers after the trade and put up another five points in five games that postseason.

Bennett never stopped producing after that. Even with the Panthers shifting to a more forecheck and defense-first approach over the past three years under Maurice, the center has put up 196 points (95 goals, 101 assists) over 289 regular-season games while laying out 616 hits and blocking 151 shots. In the playoffs, Bennett has 24 goals and 53 assists along with 316 hits in 71 career games for the Panthers.

For comparison, Bennett had just 140 points (67 goals, 73 assists) in 402 games in Calgary.

“I definitely struggled in Calgary for a while,” said Bennett, who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next month. “Once I got here [to Florida], just how the team embraced me, the opportunity the team gave me right from the beginning was totally different than what I was getting in Calgary. I took that opportunity and found some success early. Our team definitely changed quite a bit from when I first got here, but I still had that confidence. Our style changed, but I think it even fit my style of game even more, so that gave me even more confidence to go out and play.”

Tkachuk, who was with Bennett in Calgary for four-and-a-half years and joined the Panthers a year after Bennett, knew it was only a matter of time before things worked out for Bennett. The talent and the work ethic — plus “the bite, the jam, everything” else Bennett brings to the table — were too good for him not to succeed.

It’s showing up again as the Panthers put themselves on the cusp of repeating as Stanley Cup champions.

“I think a lot of it has to do with opportunity,” Tkachuk said. “I mean, he didn’t get the opportunity in Calgary that he has here with the minutes and how he’s utilized and everything. I don’t know why that is, maybe it’s a personnel thing, but he’s just taken off as a whole new player here in Florida for everybody to see, even though in Calgary I saw it all along and us as players saw it all along. I was not happy when he got traded from Calgary, but I was also so happy to see him come here and have a chance and really flourish.”

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