Dave Hyde: Bennett, Marchand and Ekblad all back? Panthers GM thinks it's possible.

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jun 20, 2025

Published in Hockey

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SUNRISE, Fla. — For his next act, Bill Zito tries something else no one thought possible, financially practical or any-which-way probable.

Sam Bennett. Brad Marchand. Aaron Ekblad.

All free agents on July 1.

“I think we can bring them all back,’’ the Panthers general manager said Tuesday night on the ice as the Stanley Cup celebration whirled around him.

He then repeated, “I think we can.”

There was a pause after he said this, probably like the one coach Paul Maurice noticed when Zito mentioned minutes before the March trade deadline about acquiring Marchand. Maurice looked at Zito in the same way he’s done at various times going back to when he mentioned the chance of trading for Matthew Tkachuk.

“OK, he’s serious,’’ Maurice tells himself at such times.

He’s serious about re-signing Bennett, Marchand and Ekblad, too. This wouldn’t just keep the band together. It would depress other NHL contenders after they watched the Panthers dismantle every team in their path again these playoffs.

It would be a tribute to what Zito has built here, too — to what’s still being built, as this moves on. The Panthers’ window to win doesn’t have a timetable right now. Their core of players are in their prime years and they’re not up against the NHL’s concrete-hard salary cap. They rank 16th in the league with $19 million to spend this offseason.

They know what this is about now, too. Tkachuk laid it out flatly how he considered their making three straight Stanley Cup finals and winning two titles a dynasty.

“Oh, yes, 100%,’’ he said. “What we’ve done the last three years, not many people have done. It’s very unprecedented.”

Let’s tread carefully here. They’re at the doorstep of a dynasty. Tampa Bay won two titles and reached a third final from 2020-22. Pittsburgh won two titles in 2016 and 2017. All great runs similar to the Panthers. But can any sport really have three dynasties in a decade?

Miami Heat coach Pat Riley set the high bar for their Big Three Era when he said the Boston Celtics centered on the 1960s were the only dynasty in the NBA for winning 11 titles in 13 years. That was his target. The Heat had a rare run, winning two titles and making four NBA finals from 2010-14. But a dynasty?

The NHL eras that stand out remain Edmonton’s five titles in seven years from 1984-90 and the New York Islanders’ four straight titles and five straight finals from 1980-84. That was a different time in sports, a different era without a salary cap.

But the common link of the eras and sports is most great runs fall apart from within. It’s hard to keep great success together in any business. Look at The Beatles. Or just look the two best sports runs in South Florida history.

The Big Three ended because LeBron James left. That was it.

The Miami Dolphins suffered a similar fate after making three Super Bowls and winning two from 1971-73. Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick signed with the upstart World Football League. They played the 1974 season, but when the Dolphins lost in the playoffs, that era was done.

That’s why keeping Bennett, Marchand and Ekblad would be different steps with the common goal of keeping this run going.

“Eight more years!” Bennett (and his father) chanted with teammates and fans while partying Wednesday morning with the Stanley Cup at the Elbo Room on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

The context of the chant is Panthers can sign Bennett for eight years, while other teams can sign him for seven. That’s one advantage for Zito. No state tax is another. But the prime lure remains this team’s winning.

Does Bennett want to try to win somewhere else for more money? Maybe. Or maybe he’ll stay for between $8 million and $9 million a year over eight years. And what is the right deal for the 37-year-old Marchand? And Ekblad?

Zito obviously thinks it’s possible to keep them all and to help keep this great run going. He’s not alone. As team owner Vinnie Viola congratulated another team official Tuesday night, he wasn’t given a word of gratitude in return.

“We’re not done,” he was told.

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