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SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s playoff MVP on Tuesday night after helping lead the Florida Panthers to a second straight Stanley Cup championship.
Bennett, 28, led the NHL with a franchise record 15 playoff goals, including an NHL record 13 on the road. And that’s where he truly separated himself from all others. The Panthers didn’t have home-ice advantage in any of their four playoff rounds, yet tied an NHL record with 10 wins in 13 games with Bennett leading the charge. Had Bennett not played so well outside of South Florida, this could have ended as quite a different story for the Panthers, who finished the playoffs 6-4 at home.
Bennett entered Tuesday night’s game with six goals and eight points during a six-game point streak and finished with five goals and an assist in six games during the Stanley Cup Final.
In the playoffs, Bennett also recorded a franchise-record four-game goal streak and a franchise-record five-game road goal streak. His 107 hits in the postseason were the most amongst Panthers skaters and ranked second in the NHL (Edmonton’s Zach Hyman had 111). In 77 career playoff games with Florida, Bennett has scored 29 goals and 59 points. His 338 hits rank first all-time among Panthers skaters, while his 29 goals rank second and 59 points rank fourth.
Bennett edged out longtime nemesis Brad Marchand, who had a remarkable playoff run with 10 goals, 20 points and a plus-18 in 23 games, for the award.
All of this came at a good time for Bennett, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1 if he doesn’t come to terms with the Panthers first. There’s little doubt he could command more on the open market than the Panthers are willing to give him.
Asked Tuesday morning how he has been able to concentrate on the task at hand knowing he could potentially be signing elsewhere, Bennett said, “It’s actually been pretty easy. I mean, competing for a Stanley Cup has always been my goal and my passion and what I’ve wanted to do. So, that’s just my focus. That’s all I want and it’s been quite easy to just not even think about what’s to come. I mean, yeah, it’s really just a singular focus and that’s how I’ve tried to handle it.”
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Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito told The Athletic recently, “He doesn’t get enough credit. I think people from the outside see this warrior, but this is a solid, solid team guy, who does anything for a team. Who’s considerate. Who’s humble. Very bright. He’s a gamer, but it’s not just on the ice in the playoffs when it shows up. It’s all the things he does in the locker room. It’s a guy who’s not doing well, and suddenly Benny’s there going, ‘Hey buddy, come on. We’ve got you.’
“Players trust him because they know his motives are virtuous and he wants to win.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Michael Russo is a senior writer covering the Minnesota Wild and the National Hockey League for The Athletic. He has covered the NHL since 1995 (Florida Panthers) and the Wild since 2005, previously for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Michael is a five-time Minnesota Sportswriter of the Year and in 2017 was named the inaugural Red Fisher Award winner as best beat writer in the NHL. Michael can be seen on NHL Network; and heard on KFAN (100.3 FM) and the Worst Seats in the House podcast (talknorth.com). He can be found on Instagram and X at @russohockey. Follow Michael on Twitter @RussoHockey
