As part of the broadcast of the Montreal Canadiens’ game against the Florida Panthers yesterday on Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman had some news.

As you know, for the past few weeks, the name of rugged forward Sam Bennett has been linked to Kent Hughes and the Habs, as he is set to become a free agent on July 1st.

Will he sign with the Canadiens?

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That’s the question many are asking, but during last night’s game between the Habs and the Panthers, Friedman had some bad news.

Scoop from Elliotte Friedman: Contract extension talks have resumed between Sam Bennett and the Florida Panthers

This is no coincidence.

Sam Bennett has been absolutely incredible over the past few weeks.

We all saw what he did during the Four Nations Faceoff for Team Canada, and since then, he has racked up 10 points in 10 games, while being one of the Panthers’ best players (14 points in his last 13 games overall).

The price for his services is going up, and Florida knows it very well!

“Saturday headlines: Bennett and Panthers re-start talks, we’ll see how it plays out.”

– Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet

 

Bennett, 28 years old, is built for the playoffs, and on top of that, he has still managed to put up 45 points in 65 games this season with the Panthers, including 22 goals.

He is finishing a contract that pays him $4.425 million per year.

This will be a very interesting situation to watch in the coming weeks, but the Panthers have a big decision to make, especially with young center Anton Lundell seemingly demanding more ice time.