NHL’s worst contracts: Sam Bennett’s is one of them according to The Athletic

Dose
Crédit: Sam Bennett holds Conn Smythe Trophy after Florida Panthers win 2025 Stanley Cup Final.

Following his great performances in the recent playoffs, Sam Bennett had the arguments on his side to sign a huge contract, and that’s exactly what he did. The forward agreed to the terms of an eight-year pact with the Panthers, a deal that will pay him $8 million per season. That’s a lot of cash for a player who isn’t necessarily dominant in the regular season. But even if Bennett is capable of rising in the playoffs – he won the Conn-Smythe Trophy in 2025 – the annual amount of his contract is still intense. And that’s why Dom Luszczyszyn(The Athletic) placed Bennett’s deal 8th among his 10 worst National League contracts.

This deal may not age very well, and that’s why it’s on this list.

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Dom Luszczyszyn

[content-ads] Nicolas Hague’s contract (four years at $5.5M) is also in the above ranking, coming in at #5.And the parallel is interesting to raise… because both Bennett and Hague have been talked about in Montreal in recent weeks. But getting back to Bennett, Luszczyszyn makes a good point when he says that the player’s deal could age badly.

It’s nice to see him being really good when it really counts… but the Panthers aren’t necessarily guaranteed to make the playoffs every year either. It would seem crazy to pay Bennett an $8M salary for 40-45 point production without necessarily being able to take advantage of his excellent contribution during the spring dance… and he’s there too, the Panthers’ biggest objective. In Florida, we’ll really have to find a way to take advantage of this contract for real. And there’s only one way to do it… Note that the worst contract in the league, according to The Athletic‘s expert, is that of Jonathan Huberbeau. Ivan Provorov, Chandler Stephenson and Brady Skjei are also ahead of Hague in the top-5,followed by Sean Couturier and Ryan Pulock before Bennett. Cody Ceci and Tanner Jeannot, who signed this summer, round out the top-10.spacer title=’Overtime’] – It’s coming up.

– Oh.

– It’s a shame.