Sam Bennett: Talks About Why He Signed New Contract with Florida Panthers, Benny’s Buddies, More

Sam Bennett: Talks About Why He Signed New Contract with Florida Panthers, Benny’s Buddies, More

all right good morning everyone thanks so much for joining us sam is here to take your questions we’ll ask you to please use the raise hand feature if you want to ask a question and we will go first to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press thank you Addie sam good morning
morning congratulations thank you so much
um I I don’t think what you said at 11 was legally binding but it was pretty clear that this is the outcome you were you were looking for what was the process like and and did you ever have any any doubt that it would end up you know this way yeah that uh that certainly wasn’t the smart uh decision to do that there at 11 uh my agent wasn’t too happy with me after that but no like like I I knew that I wanted to be here and um I was pretty confident that that it was going to get done obviously you never know things can change and um it had to be um you know the right fit for for both me and and the team and we obviously came to that uh that solution so um I obviously couldn’t be happier being in South Florida has just completely changed my life and um I love playing hockey there i love living there um I love the team the the staff the owners just everything about it is uh it’s really the dream situation so uh I I couldn’t uh I couldn’t pass up the chance to be back here for another eight years
any one quick follow there now you’re now the eighth guy to be locked up for at least 5 years and for some of you many years long many many more years than that um and these aren’t just guys these are this is the core of back-to-back cup winners what what does that mean that you know this group could be together for a very very very long time thank you yeah I mean it means that I think we have you know a lot more success in our future this is uh the core that’s been here for the last you know 3 4 years um and we’ve had so much success i I don’t see why we we can’t continue it it’s uh I mean these guys are I think we’re all so committed to the the same goal of of winning and doing whatever it takes and putting in the the hard hours um to do what it takes to win so um yeah this is this is the core that that I want to be with we’ll go next to Jordan McFersonson of the Miami Herald
hey Sam congratulations thank you
yeah um wanted to ask you when you got here at the trade deadline in 2021 to where you are now where have you seen yourself grow the most and where have you seen this team grow the most because when you got here you guys were right at the start of becoming what you guys are yeah I mean there’s obviously um you know a couple coaching changes from from when I first got here but for me personally I think as soon as I got here I think I exploded into this um this player that I always knew that I could be one day and um I didn’t really know how um I guess how much success we would have but I knew that I love the opportunity I was getting and Um I think year by year I my game just improved more and more and then once we got to you know Mo and and that coaching staff my my game just it didn’t change but um I changed the way I looked at the game and played it a little bit different style and I think it it just it helped me so much um just playing playing a little bit harder hockey um more defensive minded and it really just helped my overall game and and really turned me into the player that I am now jameson Olive Florida Panthers.com hey Benny congratulations uh I got two for you first you got the hat on Benny’s Buddies obviously this was such an incredible first year launch for that what does what does it mean now just to kind of keep that going and kind of what do you envision it maybe being now eight years down the road now that you can look ahead yeah it it’s awesome honestly that was one of the first things that uh me and my my fiance talked about was we get to continue Benny’s Buddies now and I we we had no idea how much this program would um really explode and and and blow up i mean so many so many people have reached out that they want to get involved or they want to know how they can help donate so I think just the the more this program goes the the bigger it’s going to get and um obviously tons of people have been asking for merch so hopefully by uh by next season um or by the start of the the season um in September we can we can launch some some merch and um we’re definitely um in the process of figuring out how to do that and and what’s the best way to go about that but um yeah this this program’s been amazing and and we’re uh we’re we’re really grateful that we get the opportunity to to do this and and help uh help a lot of of animals
and the the last one you know for me is you look at how tight this group is and you talked about it a little bit but what was it like last night when the news broke was your phone blown up i’m sure the guys give you some space during the process but once it’s done I’m sure they all kind of jump back into your phone there a little bit
yeah for sure i mean I got a face I got like three facetimes right away um from the boys a couple of them were together and they were just they were so fired up the group chat was going nuts um so yeah I mean this I’ve said it a million times this this group is is so tight um so many guys that that really care about each other and um yeah I was I was definitely feeling the love last night we’ll go next to Adam of the Suns Sentinel hi Sam congrats on the new contract um obviously you know obviously money is important it’s important to everyone but just how important was it to balance the the money aspect of the contract with getting to stay in a place where you’re comfortable that you like with teammates that you like on a team that’s winning like this just how important how do you how do you balance those things yeah it’s certainly it’s like you said it’s a balance um you got to weigh um you got to weigh a bunch of things and and I think how much you enjoy um how much we enjoy our life here um is a is a huge factor it’s uh obviously you got to get the number that you feel comfortable with but um really just how much we enjoy our life how much we I enjoy coming to the rink every day um there’s been times you know earlier in my career where where I didn’t enjoy it as much and I certainly don’t take it for granted now um coming to the rank every day with a with a smile and and just being happy to be here happy to play for this team alex Bombgardner hey Sam congratulations the last last 13 months or so has been quite a a journey for you personally you guys win the cup in 24 you make the four nation team for Canada you score a tying goal in that gold medal game then you go to the cup final again win the consmite get your second cup and then sign a contract just on a personal level how can you describe how the last 13 months have been for you in your career yeah I mean I feel like I still haven’t uh really taken a step back and and and looked at it and and appreciated how how amazing this this year has been or longer than year but um yeah I mean I I I’m really just just grateful um it it’s been the most I mean it’s been everything I’ve always dreamed of um the last year of hockey i mean I if you would have asked me that 5 years ago I I would have been thrilled with with uh you know just a little bit of success and um yeah I I really just I haven’t had time to really process how how amazing this year has been but um it’s incredible and um I I I truly believe that that we’re not done yet thank you guys we’ll take a couple more we’ll go to Jess Bllock of Script Sports congratulations Sam i’m super excited for you but I’m even more excited for all the dogs and the cats um kind of along the lines of what Adam was asking Paul Maurice always describes you as an identity player right like your style of play just fits this team so well and I’m wondering how much that factored into the decision not just the lifestyle here in Florida but the way your personal game has thrived in this system in this structure yeah it it definitely uh played a factor i mean I I love playing for this this team the the coaches um I I love them i’m pretty sure that they like me and they put me in great situations like I love playing with my linemates um yeah there’s there’s just I’ve had so so much success that um I mean I I I believe I could have had success elsewhere but um why even take that that chance because things are are so good here um so certainly the the the factor that I believe this team has a chance to win again for the next couple years maybe more um that that had a big factor as well
george Richards Florida Hockey Now hey Sam um yeah to to to to continue on that point how important was it that you guys are locked in for the most part and you’re now part of that right i mean you got everybody you know for the most part is tied down here to the to the Panthers it seems like you guys are going to be able to keep this thing going for a while yeah for sure um it’s this is this is you know we have one of the deepest teams in in the league and we’ve showed that over the last couple years and the fact that we’re keeping this this main core together for for the next um what is it five years um that’s that’s pretty remarkable to do so um it just shows that um these all these guys want to be here and and we care about winning and that’s that’s really our main focus is is winning so um yeah it’s going to be uh it’s going to be a fun ride for the for the next uh however many years and I wanted to go back a little bit to when you came here in 2021 at the trade deadline COVID it was one of those weird kind of deals could you have imagined that it’ turn into this i mean I I don’t even know know what you were thinking when you heard you’re going to the Florida Panthers at that time yeah i mean I I didn’t know a ton about them i I only played them once I only came to Florida once a year um we we played them twice a year so I didn’t know a lot about it i didn’t know a lot about Florida at all um certainly when you back then when you think about Florida you thought um not a great hockey market didn’t get a ton of fans and I mean now it’s couldn’t be more opposite so it it’s pretty incredible how it’s turned it’s turned and um I’m I’m happy that I got to to be a part of um you know right on the cusp where it it wasn’t um I mean there was still some great fans don’t get me wrong but it it wasn’t uh where it is today and and now to see how how amazing I mean the whole organization but the whole fan base uh it’s it’s pretty cool to see
congrats man thanks
thank you we’ll take two more we’ll go back to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press and then we’ll finish off with Jameson all of Florida.com thanks everyone sam to follow up on one of Jess’s questions Paul Marie said some truly horrible things about you in recent weeks um how much are you looking forward to that that line of uh commenting from him being silenced now for eight years yeah he’s uh I mean Mo Mo’s awesome me and him have a a great relationship and he’s uh he he’s by far the the best coach I’ve ever had his his speeches um his motivation just how he can read our room and know what we need when we need it um it’s it’s incredible so um yeah it’s certainly excited to to get to play for him for for a long time
and and congratulations on the plague being cleared up that he revealed you had it was very exciting the the the Penny the thing I really wanted to follow up on is this is three summers in a row now where it’s a really short summer for you i mean that’s the the perk of going to the final is that you’ve got the shortest summer of anybody um you had four nations you have an Olympics to add to the schedule this coming year how do you what’s the process like the next couple of months of getting the mind and body right for for September yeah it’s I mean I think now we we know what uh what works after going to the the final three years in a row you you really have to give your body time to rest and um earlier in my career I mean we weren’t going playing nearly as long but I think I would sometimes jump on the ice too early and and not give my my body enough time to rest so um certainly take a month off here um maybe mid mid August get back into to skiing again and um yeah that’s that’s that’s pretty much how how I’ll I’ll handle it um got a busy sum summer summer with weddings and and things going on but yeah right around August probably um early August late August or mid August probably step on the ice again and and uh yeah just get ready for another year hey Benny um kind of big picture for this last one but obviously you know you’re already kind of a Panthers legend you have the two cups you have the K Smite but when this contract’s up that’ll be 13 years a Panther just do you ever think about legacy and just what does being a Florida Panther mean to you what do you feel when you see that logo now and especially knowing that you know many years from now when this is all done you’ll be remembered as Florida Panther Sam Bennett yeah it’s it’s amazing i think you know we we really have the chance to to truly make this this team a dynasty and um I’m just I’m I’m really just grateful that I get the chance to be a part of it um there’s so many pieces in this this puzzle that create this this team and the success that this team has and just to be a a small piece of that is is an honor and um looking forward to to growing this this legacy for the next eight years for sure
thanks everyone have a great day thanks Sam for your time
thanks guys thank you
thank you Sam

Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett met the media on Zoom to talk about his new eight-year deal with the team, why he stayed, Benny’s Buddies, and much more on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday; it was the second straight year the Panthers beat the Oilers for the Cup.

Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs after scoring 15 goals in the postseason — including an NHL-record 13 on the road.

The Panthers held their Stanley Cup championship parade on Sunday.

The Panthers Have Done It Again, Repeat as Cup Champs: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-repeat-stanley-cup-champions-2025/

How Brad Marchand Joined the Florida Panthers: https://floridahockeynow.com/brad-marchand-joins-florida-panthers-how-it-happened-nhl-trade-bruins/

2024 Stanley Cup Champions Honored at the White House: https://floridahockeynow.com/stanley-cup-champion-florida-panthers-honored-at-white-house/

Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning Bringing Hockey Outdoors – In Florida: https://floridahockeynow.com/nhl-outdoor-hockey-miami-tampa-florida-panthers-lightning/

The Florida Panthers Get Their Rings. They’re Spectacular: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-get-stanley-cup-championship-rings-theyre-spectacular/

The Florida Panthers Are Stanley Cup Champions: https://floridahockeynow.com/can-you-believe-it-florida-panthers-are-stanley-cup-champs/

Tuesday, the Panthers led 2-0 in the first off goals from Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk.

Reinhart made it 3-0 with his second of the game before he got his hat trick — and then a fourth goal.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

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Video Courtesy Florida Panthers / Panther Vision / Zoom