7 months ago
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Greg WyshynskiJun 11, 2025, 07:30 AM ET
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN's elder NHL writer.
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Everything 1 needs to recognize astir Florida Panthers halfway Sam Bennett arsenic a Stanley Cup Playoffs juggernaut was epitomized by 1 displacement successful their Game 3 win implicit the Edmonton Oilers.
It began with a backcheck. It continued with a thundering deed connected Oilers guardant Vasily Podkolzin close aft helium released the puck -- brutal, legal. Podkolzin had made a abbreviated walk to Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg, truthful Bennett deed him, too. He kept warring for the puck on the boards earlier attempting a wide that was intercepted briefly, earlier Panthers guardant Eetu Luostarinen jarred it loose.
Bennett saw this and -- similar helium had conscionable utilized a power-up successful a crippled of Mario Kart -- blew past everyone to judge a walk for a breakaway connected Stuart Skinner, who was frozen successful spot arsenic Bennett deposited the puck down him for the 4th extremity of a 6-1 blowout.
"That displacement was a cleanable illustration of his game: Blows 2 guys up and past helium someway leads the unreserved aft that to people a beauteous goal. He tin bash it all," said Brad Marchand, a one-time Bennett adversary turned Panthers teammate. "He's been an carnal this full playoffs. He's built for this clip of year."
Every round, Sam Bennett has validated this thesis. He leads the NHL postseason successful goals with 14, 4 much than Edmonton prima Leon Draisaitl. This is Florida's 3rd consecutive travel to the Stanley Cup Final. In that span, nary 1 connected the Panthers has scored arsenic galore goals (26) arsenic Bennett.
"You conscionable spot him twelvemonth aft year, playoffs aft playoffs. That's wherever helium makes his name," Matthew Tkachuk said. "He's the explanation of a playoff player. And it's truly amusive to play with him, particularly astatine this clip of year."
His 20 points successful 20 games leads the team. In a Panthers tally defined by their dominance distant from Florida, he's been their roadworthy warrior, with 12 goals and 3 assists -- his 15 distant points pb the playoffs.
After the Panthers' Game 3 triumph enactment them 2 victories distant from repeating arsenic Stanley Cup champions, Bennett moved into the pb successful the wagering likelihood for the Conn Smythe Trophy arsenic NHL playoff MVP.
He's been a menace successful each portion this postseason, but particularly successful the violative portion wherever his punishing forechecking and arguable play astir the opponents' crease person fueled Florida's attack.
"I deliberation that's 1 of the biggest separators that helium has is erstwhile you get successful this clip of twelvemonth that's you person to beryllium successful the soiled areas and helium lives there," Marchand said. "A batch of guys get pushed astatine this clip of year, but [it's great] erstwhile you person that quality to and accomplishment to capitalize successful beforehand of the net."
Even Bennett's rivals person to motion to his postseason acumen.
"He's ever played with an edge, ever since helium was a small guy. Nothing that we haven't seen earlier -- he's playing well, scoring goals," Edmonton skipper Connor McDavid said. "We've got to fig him out."
This MVP-caliber infinitesimal for Sam Bennett is the latest milestone successful a peculiar 11-year travel successful the NHL: From the NHL draught imaginable who couldn't implicit a pull-up to a Stanley Cup champion who can't halt frustrating opponents -- by immoderate means necessary.
BENNETT WAS DRAFTED 4th wide by the Calgary Flames successful 2014 down 3 different players competing successful the Stanley Cup Final this season: Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad (1st) and halfway Sam Reinhart (2nd, by Buffalo), and Edmonton's Draisaitl (3rd).
A halfway for the Ontario Hockey League's Kingston Frontenacs, Bennett showed palpable violative upside to spell on with his antiaircraft prowess: 91 points successful 57 games during the 2013-14 season. He said helium modeled his crippled aft Hockey Hall of Famer Doug Gilmour, a tenacious two-way subordinate whose nickname with the Toronto Maple Leafs was "Killer."
But heading into the 2014 draft, Bennett was known for thing else: Being the imaginable who couldn't implicit a azygous pull-up astatine the NHL scouting combine.
That became a viral story, defining him earlier the Flames selected him 4th overall. Players similar Ottawa Senators skipper Jason Spezza called him to connection enactment and proposal connected however to woody with the embarrassment. Bennett completed 5 pull-ups aboriginal that twelvemonth for a pre-draft tv special, successful an effort to beryllium doubters wrong.
"I knew close distant he'd beryllium embarrassed by that. He likes to win successful everything helium ever tries. Now we tin gag astir it, but erstwhile it archetypal went down it was like, 'Oh, buddy, yikes,'" his parent Diane told Maclean's successful 2014. "The information that immoderate radical successful the media doubted his information made maine think, 'Oh god. They don't cognize Sammy astatine all.'"
Bennett's archetypal afloat NHL play came arsenic a 19-year-old successful 2015-16. He had 18 goals and 18 assists successful 77 games, but didn't person a azygous ballot for the Calder Trophy arsenic rookie of the year. The adjacent 5 seasons were defined by Bennett's unrealized potential: 67 goals and 73 assists successful 402 games, skating to a minus-67 portion averaging conscionable implicit 14 minutes per crippled successful crystal time. The play earlier the Flames traded him, Bennett was averaging conscionable 12:31 successful crystal clip per crippled -- little than 31-year-old Milan Lucic (13:20) for Calgary.
The lone spot were Bennett excelled? The postseason. In 30 playoff games, helium had a 1.63 points-per-60 minutes average, higher than his regular-season mean (1.41) successful that span.
"He's ever had the talent. He's ever had the enactment ethic, he's ever had the bite, the jam, everything. I deliberation a batch of it's got to bash with opportunity," said Tkachuk, who played with Bennett successful Calgary.
"He didn't get the accidental successful Calgary that helium has present with the minutes and however he's utilized and everything. I don't cognize wherefore that is. Maybe that's conscionable a unit happening oregon whatever, but he's conscionable taken disconnected arsenic a full caller subordinate present successful Florida for everybody to spot -- adjacent though successful Calgary I saw it each on and america arsenic players saw it each along."
Tkachuk was 1 of the Flames players that hated to spot him go.
"We weren't excessively thrilled, particularly him being a large buddy of mine, I was not excessively blessed erstwhile helium got traded from Calgary," helium said, "but I was besides truthful blessed to spot him travel present and person a chance."
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving was moving the Flames erstwhile they traded Bennett and a sixth-round prime successful April 2021 for a 2022 second-round prime and winger Emil Heineman, who was subsequently traded to Montreal successful a woody for winger Tyler Toffoli.
Logistically, the commercialized made consciousness for Calgary. They were apt to suffer Bennett successful the Seattle enlargement draught that twelvemonth for nothing; or, if they kept him, it would person meant giving Bennett a qualifying connection arsenic a restricted escaped cause and a raise.
At the clip of the trade, Treliving admitted that Bennett's improvement and deployment could person been "handled a small spot differently" during his clip successful Calgary.
"I don't enactment that connected Sam. I deliberation astatine the extremity of the day, Sam worked hard here. That was ne'er an issue," Treliving said. "I deliberation he's going to clasp a caller start."
Bennett appreciated the caller accidental with the Panthers.
"I decidedly struggled successful Calgary for a while. I deliberation erstwhile I got here, conscionable however the squad embraced me, the accidental the squad gave me, truly from the beginning, was wholly antithetic than what I was getting successful Calgary," helium said. "I took that accidental and recovered immoderate occurrence early. And past our squad decidedly changed rather a spot from erstwhile I archetypal got here, but I inactive had that confidence."
Bennett paid contiguous dividends, scoring a career-high 28 goals successful his archetypal play successful Florida connected a squad that finished with the champion grounds successful the NHL.
But things would alteration dramatically successful the offseason: Coach Andrew Brunette was replaced with manager Paul Maurice, and Tkachuk arrived from Calgary successful a commercialized for Jonathan Huberdeau, Bennett's slickly skilled linemate who lacked the unsocial intangibles that Tkachuk brought to Florida.
"Sam Bennett goes from playing with Jonathan Huberdeau -- fantastic player, precise skilled and Benny tin play that crippled -- to playing with Matthew Tkachuk," Maurice said. "So his crippled changes a small bit."
This is wherever the "playoff animal" began to truly look from Sam Bennett. He had the scoring and the skill. He had the playoff clutch gene. Tkachuk brought retired adjacent much tenacity and agitation from Bennett -- and the swagger successful relishing that benignant of play -- forging Panthers hockey into its existent blunt unit form.
"I deliberation our benignant changed, but I deliberation it adjacent acceptable my benignant of crippled adjacent much so. That gave maine adjacent much assurance to spell retired and play," Bennett said. "I've got rather a fewer playoff games nether my loop now, and ever felt the request to execute erstwhile the game's the biggest."
Bennett plays to win. And those wins travel astatine each costs.
SAM BENNETT COLLIDES with skaters.
He received a one-game suspension successful May 2021 for boarding and a three-game prohibition successful Jan. 2022 for an amerciable cheque to the caput of Cedric Paquette of the Montreal Canadiens. He infamously sucker-punched Marchand successful the Panthers' 2024 playoff triumph implicit the Boston Bruins, putting Marchand retired of the bid for 2 games and resulting successful nary punishment for Bennett.
"He's got a bully close hook," Marchand said past month, remembering a clip earlier they shared the aforesaid dressing room.
"He's not arsenic superior of a idiosyncratic arsenic I thought helium was. When you spot him connected the crystal and you spot him benignant of astir the media, helium conscionable seemed similar helium was quiescent and precise reserved," Marchand said. "Once you get to cognize him, he's really beauteous vocal and truly comic and a bully feline to beryllium around. But erstwhile you spot him connected the ice, he's truthful intense. He doesn't truly chirp. You don't perceive him during the game. He's each business."
Sam Bennett besides collides with goaltenders.
Like, a lot.
He collided with Anthony Stolarz successful Game 1 of the 2nd round. The Maple Leafs goaltender -- Bennett's erstwhile teammate connected the Panthers -- near the bid with a concussion and didn't return.
He collided with Carolina's Frederik Andersen successful Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. He fell backwards into Skinner's crease successful Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final aft battling with defenseman Brett Kulak, getting credited for a extremity erstwhile the puck deflected successful disconnected him. He fell connected Skinner again successful Game 2, earned a punishment for goalie interference that successful hindsight helium hadn't earned, having tripped implicit Skinner's limb arsenic the Edmonton goalie went to determination successful his crease.
During a TNT postgame amusement aboriginal successful the Stanley Cup Final, Bennett was told that "a precise ample information of the Alberta population" nary longer wanted to spot him successful beforehand of the Edmonton net.
"That's wherever I'm going to beryllium for the remainder of this series," Bennett said.
0:47
Puck deflects disconnected Sam Bennett's skate for Panthers goal
Sam Bennett deflects successful a extremity for the Panthers to necktie the people successful the archetypal play vs. the Oilers.
His physicality astir the crease -- and into goaltenders -- has been the catalyst for plentifulness of 'how does helium support getting distant with it?' moments of exasperation for fans and opposing teams.
"Obviously, you don't similar erstwhile guys are purposely falling into your goaltender. That's ne'er good, and you anticipation that gets noticed," Oilers winger Evander Kane said. "You can't spell retired and instrumentality a 10-minute punishment successful the archetypal period. That wouldn't assistance anybody. But determination are different ways to grip it. Staying assertive and going hard to their nett arsenic well."
Seth Jones utilized to support against Bennett astir the crease earlier joining the Panthers via commercialized this season.
"As a defenseman, you spot wherever helium gets astir that bluish paint. He pushes off. He makes himself big. Screens extremity arsenic well," helium said. "It's conscionable that changeless assemblage interaction astir the nett that truly elevates his crippled and makes it hard to handle."
Ekblad has been Bennett's teammate present for 5 seasons. The mode helium sees it, Bennett earns these high-danger opportunities by going to the toughest parts of the ice.
"A batch of times there's thing you tin bash if helium gets pushed, right? Just similar Corey Perry, he's highly bully astatine getting determination and being betwixt the D-man and a goalie, truthful there's not overmuch you tin do," Ekblad said. "Those guys person a knack for it. They're immoderate of the champion successful the league astatine it."
0:51
Sam Bennett scores connected the powerfulness play for Florida Panthers
Sam Bennett scores connected the powerfulness play for Florida Panthers
Bennett's been the champion astatine astir things successful this playoff tally for Florida. All of it is happening astatine a captious clip for the seasoned center's career.
Bennett is an unrestricted escaped cause this summer. He's successful the past twelvemonth of a four-year declaration signed with Florida that carries an mean yearly worth of $4.425 million. There has been speculation that Bennett could gain upwards of $10 cardinal annually connected his adjacent contract.
He's intelligibly been blessed arsenic a Panther, not lone successful their occurrence but successful however that occurrence has been acceptable up by those astir him.
"I'm conscionable precise fortunate to get immoderate large teammates and large linemates and large coaches that judge successful me," helium said. "I deliberation each that unneurotic conscionable is the cleanable operation to person success."
Whether helium signs successful Florida oregon leaves for different team's riches, the worth placed connected Bennett won't beryllium for his regular-season achievement. Bennett has ne'er scored 30 goals successful a season, and this was his archetypal run with much than 50 points.
It'll beryllium for his title pedigree. For being the "definition of a playoff player." Or, arsenic Marchand poetically said, for simply being "an animal" erstwhile it counts the most.
