'I Think He's Got The Bubonic Plague' — Panthers Coach Explains Why Teams Should Steer Clear of UFA Sam Bennett

The scouting report is out.

Sam Bennett, who is a pending UFA, continues to increase his value on the open market with a playoff-leading 14 goals. But according to his coach, potential buyers should be aware that there is more than meets the eye before offering Bennett a $10-million salary.

“He’s got a horrible attitude,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice told TNT reporter during a TV timeout in Monday’s Game 3 between Florida and Edmonton . “I think he’s got the bubonic plague, Dengue fever, he’s got a whole bunch of things. I don’t think he can be cured.”

Given more time, Maurice might have added that Bennett also reclines his seat on commercial flights, doesn’t tip 15% on meals and spends his off days kicking kittens. None of it might be true. But whatever it takes to keep Bennett in a Florida Panthers jersey.

Good luck with that.

Following a two-goal performance in a 6-1 win in Game 3, Bennett moved the Panthers to within two wins of claiming a second straight Stanley Cup championship. He also put himself in the driver’s seat of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

If he achieves both, you can bet that Bennett will be rewarded in free agency.

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The only question is whether he will re-sign with the Panthers, where he’s spent the past five years, or take his talents to the open market.

On Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stressed again in a pre-game interview with the TNT panel that Florida and other tax-free states do not have a competitive advantage. But try telling that to Canadian fans who have watched as teams from the state of Florida and Nevada have reached the final in each of the past six years.

“It’s a ridiculous issue,” said Bettman. “When the Florida teams weren’t good, which was for about 17 years, nobody said anything about it.”

Ridiculous as it might be, the Panthers don’t have a single player earning more than $10-million this season. But they also have seven UFAs, including Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad, who will need new contracts. And after making three straight final appearances, none of them will come cheap.

Bennett is likely to earn the most out of all of them. With every goal, with every hit and with every Panthers win, his value continues to grow. At the start of the playoffs, the thinking was that Bennett might be worth somewhere around $6 million. Now, it looks like Bennett could eclipse captain Aleksander Barkov, who is earning $10-million, as the highest-paid Panther.

After all, Benett is every thing that a championship-contending team is looking for.

He hits, he fights and he comes up with clutch goals. Sometimes, he does all three on a single shift, as he showed in Game 3 when he delivered back-to-back bodychecks to cause a turnover in the defensive zone, then went the length of the ice and scored on a breakaway to put the game out of reach.

“He’s so good all over the ice, but he doesn’t cheat the game for the two goals,” Maurice told Redmond. “He’s under pucks, he’s does all the hard, right things. That’s just who he is.”

Too bad he’s supposedly infected with every infectious disease known to man.

Photo credits: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images and Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

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