Panthers agree to eight-year extension with key forward from Stanley Cup championship team

The Florida Panthers have come to terms on an extension with one of their best forwards from their run to a Stanley Cup championship a season ago. The team announced it has agreed to an eight-year extension with forward Carter Verhaeghe beginning next season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Verhaeghe will earn $7M each year of the deal with $46M of the $56M being paid out in bonuses. Friedman added that Florida gave Verhaeghe a six-year no-move clause that will begin this season and last the first five years of his new deal.

Verhaeghe had an odd pathway toward becoming one of the most consistent forwards on a Stanley Cup championship team. The Toronto Maple Leafs originally drafted him with the 82nd overall pick of the 2013 draft, but he would only play two games in the organization by way of two appearances with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2013-14. The Maple Leafs moved on quickly from Verhaeghe despite two solid years with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs as he was moved in the trade that brought Michael Grabner to Toronto.

His time in the New York Islanders organization was eerily similar to his time with the Maple Leafs, playing exclusively in the AHL or ECHL. He failed to move his way up the Islanders’ depth chart and the team moved him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a minor 2017 trade for Kristers Gudļevskis. His offensive potential was beginning to blossom upon his arrival in Tampa Bay, scoring 51 goals and 130 points in 134 games for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch from 2017-19.

Verhaeghe made his NHL debut over six years after being drafted on Oct. 3, 2019. He skated in 52 games for the Lightning that season, scoring nine goals and 13 points while averaging 9:22 of ice time. He also played sparingly in Tampa Bay’s run to the Stanley Cup Final that season, tallying two assists in eight games while getting his name on the Cup for the first time in his career.

The Bolts were seemingly unimpressed by Verhaeghe’s pedestrian scoring output in his rookie campaign and non-tendered him over the offseason. Their interstate rivals, the Panthers, acted quickly by signing Verhaeghe to a two-year, $2M contract.

His major breakout happened almost instantaneously with the Panthers. He scored 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games for Florida in the Covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign and quickly became one of the best bargain contracts in the league. Verhaeghe followed up his breakout campaign with another solid year of 24 goals and 55 points in 78 contests. That firmly cemented him in the Panthers’ top six.

The last two years have been Verhaeghe’s best with 76 goals and 145 points in 157 games since the start of the 2022-23 NHL season. He’s also been one of Florida’s best playoff performers in the team’s back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final, scoring 18 goals and 38 points in 45 postseason contests.

General manager of the Panthers, Bill Zito, spoke highly of Verhaeghe by saying, “Carter is one of our most trusted players. South Florida has watched him evolve into one of the NHL’s most elite goal scorers while also being a relentless forechecker. His willpower and perseverance have allowed him to repeatedly succeed as a critical performer on the biggest stages. He is an integral part of our team now and into the future, and we are thrilled to see him remain a part of our core group“.

Florida is making a major push to lock in its core for the foreseeable future and keep their contention window wide open. Verhaeghe’s extension marks the sixth Panthers’ player with at least six years left on their contract including Gustav Forsling, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Anton Lundell.