Panthers sign Mike Benning to one-year deal
The Florida Panthers have announced that defenseman Mike Benning has been signed to a one-year contract with a $775,000 cap hit.
We’ve agreed to terms with defenseman Mike Benning on a one-year, two-way contract.
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Benning was a restricted free agent after the conclusion of his three-year, entry-level contract with a $916,667 cap hit. He sees his salary drop $141,667 with the new contract, with this obviously being the lowest cap hit of his career.
Benning’s contract is also a two-way contract, with his AHL salary set to be $100,000.
Benning is coming off of his second season of professional hockey, where he got nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 54 games in the AHL for the Panthers’ minor-league affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. This was a six-point increase from his rookie season, despite the fact that he played in 18 fewer games.
Benning also had five goals and four assists for nine points in 18 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the Checkers. Charlotte made it all the way to the Calder Cup Finals in their playoff run before losing in six games to the Abbotsford Canucks.
Benning wasn’t ranked in Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis’ top ten prospects for the Panthers earlier this summer.
“Benning loves the puck on his stick, and he makes excellent passing plays to create high-danger scoring chances consistently,” Ellis said. “He’s on the smaller side and that’s likely why he hasn’t carved out an NHL career yet. But there’s enough skill to be a No. 7/8 defender moving forward.”
Benning was a fourth-round pick for the Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft, and after spending three years with the University of Denver, he signed his entry-level contract at the end of the 2022-23 season, and made his pro debut the following year. He has yet to play a game at the NHL level.
The Panthers are currently $3.275 million over the salary cap, and still have Aleksi Heponiemi, Logan Hutsko and Oliver Okuliar left to re-sign among their restricted free agents.