The Florida Panthers recently re-signed goalie Spencer Knight to a three-year contract with a $4.5MM AAV. The contract raised some eyebrows due to its cost, as Knight’s extension will be more expensive than the recent Jake Oettinger deal, despite the fact that Oettinger seems to have firmly established himself as a quality starting netminder while Knight had an up-and-down 2021-22. Now that a few days have passed since the signing, though, we have some more context on why the Panthers felt comfortable taking a leap of faith with their extremely talented (but still relatively unproven) young netminder.
As Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN’s Insider Trading, the Panthers were “legitimately worried” about the possibility of another team offer sheeting Knight next summer, when he would have been a restricted free agent. The Panthers, who are paying starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky $10MM AAV through the 2025-26 season, may not have been in a strong enough cap position to retain Knight at what his offer sheet may have cost. So, rather than risk losing the goalie they seem to firmly believe is their long-term future in net, the Panthers decided to sign Knight to this expensive bridge contract in order to ensure he remains in Sunrise for the foreseeable future.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
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