FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Bill Zito looked exhausted Tuesday. The Florida Panthers' hockey operations president and general manager was trying to schedule a fishing trip. He was trying to figure out how the next few weeks will work. He needed a nap, desperately.
The good news: He can finally get a bit of a break.
The Panthers are running — skating? — it back next season, with all 12 of the forwards that they used in the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final under contract for 2025-26 and in many cases long beyond.
The final moves came Tuesday, when the signings of Brad Marchand and Tomas Nosek became officially official as Florida prepares to try and win a third consecutive title next season.
And with that, Zito and the Panthers pulled off a stunning haul: They went into free agency trying to figure out who among the trio of Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Marchand could fit under the salary cap for next season — and kept them all.
It begged the obvious question Tuesday: How did he do this?
''I didn't. It was those guys,'' Zito said. ''There's no gray area whatsoever. This is 100% those guys wanting to be part of something that they created. We kind of wax poetic about the team and the community that they've become. And I think this is a great example of what it means to them. It's 100% those men who made that decision that they all wanted to continue to try to win together.''
Bennett took an eight-year deal worth $64 million, Ekblad took an eight-year deal worth $48.6 million and Marchand took a six-year deal worth about $32 million. And much in the same way that Zito — who has 10 players, most of the team's biggest names, under contract through at least 2030 — didn't want credit, Ekblad deferred the credit for all of this happening as well.
