Bill Zito has strengthened his position as one of the top general managers in the NHL after securing contract extensions for Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Sam Bennett. However, that doesn’t guarantee continued success for the Panthers.
During a special appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Zito acknowledged that the new CBA could pose major challenges in trying to keep the team a permanent Stanley Cup contender.
“There’s a number of things, sort of technical things contract-wise that may or may not impact us. The season could go to 84 games. That’s something that would obviously impact us. We started to address next season already. We’ve gone to the finals three years in a row. How tired are these guys going to be? What can we do? Well, maybe they’re not. Let’s just not assume they are. What could we do to lessen the load physically and emotionally? We’ve already started to modify our training camp. We’re going to do that differently.”
Who did Florida Panthers sign?
The Florida Panthers signed Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad to key contract extensions. In addition, they already have Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Gustav Forsling, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk locked in through 2030.
Despite certain obstacles the new CBA could bring in the future, Zito issued a clear warning to the NHL. The upside of what’s coming is the increase in the salary cap, which, with your stars already signed, could give you the opportunity to make other important moves.
That’s why the Collective Bargaining Agreement could give the Panthers the flexibility they need to stay on top. “That’s going to help us. It will give us flexibility as we have more cap space to supplement and help that core.”