Panthers extend Verhaeghe with 8-year contract

Carter Verhaeghe, a vital part of the Florida Panthers‘ Stanley Cup win last season, has signed an eight-year contract extension worth $56 million.

The deal was announced Tuesday night after the Panthers raised their championship banner and 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in their season opener.

Verhaeghe, 29, is in the final year of a contract that carries a $4,166,667 salary cap hit. The new deal, which begins in 2025-26, has an average annual value of $7 million. Sources told ESPN that the deal also includes $48 million in guaranteed signing bonus money and carries trade protection.

“This guy’s a Florida Panther,” general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said. “We’re very blessed to have him.”

Verhaeghe signed with Florida as a free agent in October 2020 after he won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20 as a rookie. He scored 236 points, including 118 goals, in 278 games with the Panthers over the past four seasons.

The forward has been outstanding for Florida in the postseason, with 53 points in 61 playoff games. That includes 11 goals and 10 assists in 24 games during the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run last season.

Verhaeghe has scored 10 game-winning playoff goals for the Panthers, including the overtime Game 7 winner in Boston during Florida’s historic first-round upset of the Bruins in 2023.

“To be a Florida Panther for this long already is a huge honor for me,” Verhaeghe said. “To even extend it longer, I’m just so grateful to the organization.”

There were hints that a deal was close, the best of those coming Monday night at the Panthers’ championship ring ceremony. Panthers owner Vincent Viola handed the rings to players one by one, and when it was Verhaeghe’s turn there was an extra message — a promise from the owner that he would remain with the team.

“It’s what I wanted,” Verhaeghe said. “It was cool. He said some really nice things to everyone. It was awesome.”

Verhaeghe didn’t have a point in 17:19 of ice time in the Panthers’ win over Boston on Tuesday night. Sam Bennett score twice in the victory, and he and defenseman Aaron Ekblad remain prominent Panthers who could become unrestricted free agents after this season.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.