FORT LAUDERDALE — As NHL salaries explode past $18 million per season for the league’s youngest stars, the Florida Panthers find themselves in an enviable position: their core is already locked up at rates that now look like bargains.
Captain Sasha Barkov, the Panthers’ highest-paid player at $10 million per season on an $80 million, eight-year deal signed in 2021, earns barely half what San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini will make under a five-year contract averaging $18.8 million per season — the richest in the league, Florida Hockey Now reported. The Sharks reportedly would have given Celebrini $20 million per year had he asked for it.
Celebrini’s deal eclipses the $18 million annually that Leo Carlsson secured from the Anaheim Ducks after the Philadelphia Flyers made him an offer sheet. The Chicago Blackhawks signed Connor Bedard to a five-year contract worth $15 million per season earlier this month. Against that backdrop, GM Bill Zito’s roster construction in South Florida looks increasingly shrewd.
Matthew Tkachuk carries an eight-year deal worth $9.5 million annually, while Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brady Tkachuk each make over $8 million per season. The Panthers have 13 players under contract through the 2029-30 season, and next summer the club projects to carry 20 players under contract with almost $10 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia data cited by Florida Hockey Now.
The breathing room stems from timing. This year’s salary cap ceiling of $104 million represents a nearly 9% rise over last year’s $95.5 million cap. The cap is expected to climb to $113 million next summer, with another $10 million increase projected for the 2028-29 season. By 2028, the Panthers project to have almost $40 million in cap space — room that will be needed when Brady Tkachuk becomes eligible for a contract extension next summer. The younger Tkachuk, signed for two more seasons, would likely command more annually than Barkov’s $10 million, the natural progression under a rapidly rising cap.
The Panthers open training camp in early-to-mid September in Fort Lauderdale, with their preseason beginning Sept. 20 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Florida’s 2026-27 regular season opener is Sept. 29 at Carolina at 5 p.m. on ESPN, followed by the home opener against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.