Panthers sign Reinhart to eight-year extension, locking up another member of team’s core

Sam Reinhart wasn’t at the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship parade on Sunday. His best friend’s wedding was that day, so the All-Star forward skipped out on one celebration for another.

No worries. It looks like he’ll have more chances to bring home the Stanley Cup with the Panthers as he signed an eight-year, $69 million contract extension that keeps him with the team through the 2031-32 season.

“Since coming to South Florida, Sam has demonstrated his ability to be a powerful scoring threat while maintaining strong defensive play,” Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said in a press release announcing the extension. “His versatility and value as a player are only outshined by his premier personality and work ethic, and we are pleased to have him continue on with our group.”

Reinhart has said on multiple occasions throughout the season he wanted to get a deal done, including right after the Panthers won the Stanley Cup. Zito has said time and again he was optimistic it would get done.

And now, the deal is done.

And now, Sam Reinhart isn’t leaving South Florida any time soon.

“We wanted to keep him,” Zito said, “and he wanted to stay. We worked through the process. His agent was a gentleman. Everyone was all with the intention of trying to take care of Sam and still have a chance to win, and that was paramount to him and his decision making. Nothing but respect and happiness on that end. We’re just thrilled that he’s a part of it.”

Reinhart, 28, has been a steady fixture in the Panthers’ offense ever since Zito acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres ahead of the 2021-22 season.

In three seasons with Florida, Reinhart has scored 121 goals and logged 143 points in 242 regular-season games. This included a career season in 2023-24 in which he scored 57 goals — third-most in franchise history — and had another 10 in the playoffs, including the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

His 27 power-play goals and 32 total special teams goals were the most in franchise history for a single season.

Reinhart played the entire season on the final year of his three-year, $19.5 million deal that he signed with the Panthers upon being acquired from Buffalo.

But Reinhart and Zito were on common ground throughout the season not to let contract negotiations get in the way of the team’s goal of making a deep playoff run and, ultimately, win a Stanley Cup.

Reinhart went on to have the best season of his career and got rewarded as such.

He is now the latest member of the team’s core to be under contract long-term. Captain Aleksander Barkov and star winger Matthew Tkachuk are both under contract through the 2029-2030 season. Defenseman Gustav Forsling is under term through the 2031-32 season as well.