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Sam Bennett

#9 · Centre · Florida Panthers

Born Jun 20, 1996 in Holland Landing, Ontario, CAN (age 30) · 6'1", 193 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 4th overall in 2014 by CGY (round 1)

Trophy case

Conn Smythe Trophy MVP of Stanley Cup Playoffs 2024-25

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Adam Lowry WPG · 3 P in 4 GP Alexander Kerfoot NSH · 3 P in 4 GP Blake Coleman MIN · 3 P in 4 GP Bobby Brink MIN · 3 P in 4 GP Brayden Point TBL · 3 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

020402014-15: 1 points114-152015-16: 36 points3615-162016-17: 26 points2616-172017-18: 26 points2617-182018-19: 27 points2718-192019-20: 12 points1219-202020-21: 27 points2720-212021-22: 49 points4921-222022-23: 40 points4022-232023-24: 41 points4123-242024-25: 51 points5124-252025-26: 58 points5825-262026-27: 3 points326-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2014-15 CGY 1 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 1.00 $925K
2015-16 CGY 77 18 18 36 -11 37 136 110 0.47 $925K
2016-17 CGY 81 13 13 26 -16 75 122 127 0.32 $925K
2017-18 CGY 82 11 15 26 -18 59 157 140 0.32 $1.95M
2018-19 CGY 71 13 14 27 -6 93 115 121 0.38 $1.95M
2019-20 CGY 52 8 4 12 -1 36 82 101 0.23 $2.55M
2020-21 CGY 38 4 8 12 -14 19 67 79 0.32 $2.55M
2020-21 FLA 10 6 9 15 12 33 39 29 1.50
2021-22 FLA 71 28 21 49 27 74 241 119 0.69 $4.425M
2022-23 FLA 63 16 24 40 5 54 193 150 0.63 $4.425M
2023-24 FLA 69 20 21 41 17 100 171 173 0.59 $4.425M
2024-25 FLA 76 25 26 51 -15 90 241 145 0.67 $4.425M
2025-26 FLA 76 26 32 58 -10 82 201 115 0.76 $8M
2026-27 FLA 4 0 3 3 2 4 7 12 0.75 $8M
13 seasons Career 771 188 209 397 -29 756 1773 1421 0.51

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2014-15 CGY 11 3 1 4 -3 8 20 15 0.36
2016-17 CGY 4 2 0 2 -1 4 10 13 0.50
2018-19 CGY 5 1 4 5 0 16 9 25 1.00
2019-20 CGY 10 5 3 8 4 10 32 54 0.80
2020-21 FLA 5 1 4 5 0 8 18 16 1.00
2021-22 FLA 10 1 2 3 1 12 29 44 0.30
2022-23 FLA 20 5 10 15 5 60 73 84 0.75
2023-24 FLA 19 7 7 14 -1 12 38 87 0.74
2024-25 FLA 23 15 7 22 6 48 69 107 0.96
9 seasons Playoffs 107 40 38 78 11 178 298 445 0.73

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 3 3 2 4 7 12 0.75 0.0 20:20

Contract

$8MCap hitends in 2033, then UFA
$2.667MCap dollars per point3 points in 4 games
$1.671MCap dollars per goal above replacement4.8 goals above replacement, projected
$5.4MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$2.6MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Florida Panthers on Jun 27, 2025, as an extension of the contract he was on: 8 years and $64M, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2032-33, with 6 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $8M
2026-27 $8M
2027-28 $8M
2028-29 $8M
2029-30 $8M
2030-31 $8M
2031-32 $8M
2032-33 $8M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jun 27, 2025 Florida Panthers Extension 2025-26 to 2032-33 8 $64M $8M
Jul 26, 2021 Florida Panthers Extension 2021-22 to 2024-25 4 $17.7M $4.425M
Jul 24, 2019 Calgary Flames New contract 2019-20 to 2020-21 2 $5.1M $2.55M
Sep 6, 2017 Calgary Flames New contract 2017-18 to 2018-19 2 $3.9M $1.95M
Jul 26, 2014 Calgary Flames Entry-level 2014-15 to 2016-17 3 $9.675M $925K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (+0.5 goals above replacement), plus the 74 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+4.8Goals above replacement203rd of 648 skaters, 147th of 423 forwards
+0.8Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.9Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 423 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+6.8 95th percentileEven-strength defence-3.5 5th percentilePower play-0.7 9th percentilePenalty kill+0.3 87th percentilePenalties-2.0 1st percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

02468102014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232024-252026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

50.0Corsi for %42 attempts for, 42 against
-13.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
59.4Expected goals for %2.1 expected for, 1.4 against
-8.4xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
48.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
100.0Goals for %2 for, 0 against
120.0PDO20.0% shooting + 100.0% saves
12Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Carter Verhaeghe · Sam Bennett · Matthew Tkachuk439:0950.760.12-0
Carter Verhaeghe · Sam Reinhart · Sam Bennett21:230.00.00-0
Carter Verhaeghe · Sam Bennett · Eetu Luostarinen21:19100.00.00-0
Sam Reinhart · Sam Bennett · Brady Tkachuk21:130.00.00-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.2Expected goalsfrom 10 unblocked attempts
-1.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.86 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 11.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -1.2 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.51Expected 1.2Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 6, 2026 @ LAK W 2-1 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 19:29
Oct 4, 2026 @ ANA L 2-3 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 4 2 21:52
Oct 1, 2026 @ SJS L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 2 1 3 20:49
Sep 29, 2026 @ CAR W 1-0 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 19:08