NHL Rumors: Florida Panthers, and the Boston Bruins

Will Florida Panthers pending UFA Sam Bennett go to the open market or will he re-sign?

Andy Strickland: Elliotte Friedman last week on the Cam and Strick Pod on Florida Panthers pending UFA forward Sam Bennett.

Friedman: “Like you look at Florida right now, everybody signs there on their terms, right? Like, it’s like (Sam) Reinhart could have gotten more if he went on the open market, but he wanted to stay. They got him at a number that they were pretty comfortable with. You know, you’re the same thing you mentioned with (Aaron) Ekblad. Like, if he stays, he’s signing on, on the Panthers’ terms.

And right now, and also Bennett’s agent, his history is, ‘I want you to test the market.’ Like he always tells his guys, give me a reason that you’re not going to test the market.

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Can Janssen: “He’s got Mitch Marner too, right? So same situation.

Friedman: “Same guy. (Karel) Vejmelka in Utah right now (Vejmelka signed a five-year extension with Utah).

Like Darren really believes, give me a reason not to test the market. And so I think Bennett will do very, very well out there.

Janssen: “Yeah, seven, seven and a half. I mean

Friedman: “I think higher, I do. I think it could be higher.”

The Boston Bruins core knew big changes were coming if they didn’t fix it

James Murphy of RG.org: A source said that Bruins Bruins GM Don Sweeney twice told his core group of Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle and Brandon Carlo back in November after they fired head coach Jim Montgomery and before the Four Nations, that after the offseason additions of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, that if they didn’t fix things, there would be big changes at the trade deadline.

Trade Deadline Fallout: Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and the Canadiens

Marchand, Carlo, Coyle and Justin Brazeau were traded at the deadline. Marchand to RG:

“We talked about it; we tried to stop it, and we just couldn’t,” Marchand admitted. “It just seemed like every time we tried to do the right things and change course, it wouldn’t come together for us. Unfortunately, sometimes, things like that happen, and you try to control it, you try to do whatever you can, and it just seems like everything that could go against us, would go against us.”

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