Bennett plays big role in Panthers' march to Eastern Conference Final

SUNRISE, Fla. --Sam Bennett is shivering. He's wearing shorts and a T-shirt and, to be fair, FLA Live Arena is an icebox in the best of times. But Bennett smiles as he sits in a cushioned seat in the front row of a coaches' room not long after practice. He's just gotten out of the cold tub and maybe, just maybe, the 10 minutes he spent in there was a little too long.

No matter.

In just a few minutes, the Florida Panthers center will walk out into the bright sunlight and near 90-degree temperatures of South Florida and his body will adjust and maybe, just maybe, smile again.

Because Bennett is living the good life in Florida. He is thriving, in a way he never did with the Calgary Flames, in a way that has put to rest the frustrations that cropped up in his first five-plus seasons in the NHL, in a way that has confirmed he is a vital piece of a team on its way to the Eastern Conference Final after eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games in the best-of-7 second round.

"I loved it right from the beginning," Bennett said.

Since the Panthers traded for Bennett on Apr. 12, 2021, he has been a revelation. He had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in the final 10 games in 2020-21, then 49 points (28 goals, 21 assists) in 71 games last season and 40 more (16 goals, 24 assists) in 63 games this season. And once he returned to Florida's lineup in Game 2 of the first round against the Boston Bruins -- after missing the last 12 games of the regular season and the playoff opener with a groin injury -- he showed just how much his presence is felt.

He has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 11 games this postseason, with at least one point in seven of them, along with a strong physical game, among other intangibles.

"Oh, I didn't know he was going to be this good," general manager Bill Zito said, going back two years ago when Bennett was acquired. "I think everyone in the League knew what he might do, what he could do. So that was not a great leap of projection. … When you watched him, of course he had competitiveness in his game. But the leadership, the high level of skill and speed, I didn't full appreciate it until, really over the course of the season when we had him."

It became clear almost immediately. Bennett, who said "it was the most free hockey that I'd played I think in my career," started out alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and, by his third game in Florida, his minutes had surged and both sides knew this might just work.

Among the many underutilized pieces Zito has helped assemble, the 26-year-old may be his greatest find, the No. 4 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft who never panned out with his original team. Bennett peaked in Calgary in his rookie season with 36 points (18 goals, 18 assists) in 77 games in 2015-16, and then never again topped 27.

"It was frustrating," Bennett said. "Definitely had some frustrating years there. Always felt like I wanted to do more and just kind of couldn't."

He always believed he had the talent to be more successful, to play up to his draft slot, knowing that, at his best, he is playing with a physical edge, heavy on the forecheck, making life difficult on opposing defensemen.

But there were plenty of doubters, from opposing NHL coaches to the writer who penned the story headlined "Sam Bennett is unlikely to ever become a top-six NHL forward."

Even Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who watched him as coach of the Winnipeg Jets, wasn't sure.

"He's a major surprise for me," Maurice said. "When I'm on the bench in Winnipeg and watching him in Calgary, I don't know Sam Bennett. I know him as a player, third- and fourth-line guy, on the wing, in the middle, so I have an idea of him as a player.

"And then I get here and it's completely opposite. You get through training camp and you're going, 'Oh man, can this guy move.' I knew he was a hard man, like he's tough, but the consistency and the skill level, I didn't know."

Bennett said he had started to feel the walls closing in with the Flames, saying, "I just kind of felt trapped in a situation where I couldn't really find that much success."

He requested a trade.

Florida pounced.

Zito brought him to the Panthers and gave him the chance, the minutes, the top-six minutes he needed.

"He's always been that type of player that we're seeing now, but I think here he's just getting the opportunity and showing it on this big stage," said forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was teammates with Bennett for five seasons in Calgary. "He's one of the guys, if not the guy, that kind of drives the style of play that we're playing.

"I would say that when he's playing the way that he is right now, not many guys can play against it. I know if I was a defenseman, I wouldn't want to play against him."

Through two rounds and 11 games, besides contributing offensively, Bennett has accrued 42 penalty minutes, most on Florida. Though Bennett off the ice is quiet, a far cry from the player whose booming hits -- like the one in the first period of Game 5 on Toronto center John Tavares -- have become routine this postseason, he has made himself known to the Bruins and Maple Leafs.

He's the type of player who is venerated if you're a fan of the Panthers, reviled if you're not.

It's exactly what those who knew him best early in his career had believed he could be.

Because even as the rest of the NHL wasn't sure about Bennett, couldn't quite see through the under-utilization and the results that didn't match up to the draft slot, there was someone just waiting for Bennett to break out.

Doug Gilmour went through a similar experience, three relatively quiet seasons with the St. Louis Blues suddenly all coming together. Gilmour drafted Bennett to the Ontario Hockey League with Kingston, saw him overshadowed by Erie center Connor McDavid, now of the Edmonton Oilers, and wondered when exactly Bennett would get his due.

"He was so competitive, even then," Gilmour said. "He was a 16-year-old playing against 19-year-olds and didn't back down whatsoever. He's like that now in the NHL. He might not get you 100 points, but he'll get you 60 or 70 and he'll be out there battling every single night.

"I can tell you as a former player: He's the type of guy you hated playing against. Every shift, every game, he's competing full out."

Bennett wonders what would have happened had he stayed in Calgary, if it ever would have clicked there. But it no longer matters. Bennett has moved on, to the Panthers, to the sunshine, to the Eastern Conference Final.

He's thrilled that his fresh start has brought him here, to where he -- and Gilmour -- always thought he could be.

"A couple of years ago, I had an NHL GM call me asking about him," Gilmour said. "This GM had an opportunity to acquire him and wanted to know about him. I told him: 'You're nuts if you don't.'

"He didn't. Big mistake."

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report