Florida (Panthers) Factor prominent in TSN's latest Top 50 UFAs list

The Florida (Panthers) Factor is – in the moment - eclipsing all others on the pending free agent market.

Would you expect anything less from the Sunshine State?

Conn Smythe candidate Sam Bennett, who leads the NHL playoffs with 14 goals, remains No. 2 behind Toronto right winger Mitch Marner on the latest TSN Top 50 Free Agent list less than three weeks from July 1.

Fellow Conn Smythe candidate Brad Marchand has moved up eight spots from No. 11 to No. 3.

The veteran left winger and Bennett are just the second set of teammates in NHL history to score goals in each of the first three games of a Cup final.

Marchand, 37, is the oldest player to accomplish the feat.

Among Marchand’s 18 points are two overtime goals – a series-changing moment versus Toronto in Game 3 of the first round and what may turn out to be a series-changing moment versus Edmonton in Game 2 of the final round.

To say nothing of the first goal he scored in the first minute of Game 3, igniting a 6-1 rout.

Meanwhile, Panthers’ right defenceman Aaron Ekblad is TSN’s top-ranked rearguard at No. 5, one slot behind Winnipeg left winger Nik Ehlers.

Ekblad, Florida’s first-overall pick in 2014, has four goals and 12 points in 16 playoff games. He plays all the tough minutes and caught Connor McDavid with a seldom-seen open-ice hit on the game’s best player in Game 3.

One game earlier, McDavid went, in Ekblad’s own words, full “McJesus” on him with a “walk-on-water” toe drag on the way to setting up Leon Draisaitl for a goal of the year candidate.

Now, whether any of these three Cats get to free agency is a story for another day.

Bennett seems awfully comfortable in Sunrise, and although his price tag is rising by the game, the cap is also rising - from $88 million this season to $95.5 million, $104 million and $113.5 million over the next three seasons.

As for Ekblad, he says, "I live and breathe for the Florida Panthers. I bleed for the Florida Panthers. I've given my body and everything to this team. I want to keep doing it forever, for as long as they'll let me keep coming to the rink."

Marchand has been a Panther only since his March 7 trade from Boston, but he has fit in, well, like a rat.

He is, however, the least attached to Florida and you can be sure teams are looking at the 16-year NHLer with an outstanding playoff resume as a potential “missing piece” player.

Marchand embodies championship timbre – winning one Stanley Cup and six of six tournaments as a member of Team Canada, including the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

Bennett’s expiring deal carries a $4.4-million AAV, Marchand’s, a $6.1-million cap hit and Ekblad’s, a $7.5-million AAV.

Bennett, of course, has been the story of the playoffs, earning points in 15 of 20 games and exerting his will in and around the goal crease and beyond. He is, at once, occupying the blue ice – creating all manner of distress for opposition goalies – and turning on the red light with equal amounts dash and bash.

His 97 hits are second-most in the playoffs; he’s averaging nearly five per game.

His 42 penalty minutes are tied for second-most; behind only Marchand’s 48.

His 14 goals in 20 games are four more than anyone else this playoff year and one more than No. 1 pending free agent Marner has in 70 career playoff games.

A necessary reminder: complicating the assessment of Bennett’s value is that his 0.83 point-per-game scoring rate over the past three postseasons (59 games), compares to a 0.63 scoring rate over the past three regular seasons (208 games).

It will almost certainly take less money for GM of the Year finalist Bill Zito to sign Bennett than most NHL rivals because of Florida’s inviting climate, the franchise’s fabulous success and systemic benefits.

Zito has the luxury of offering an eight-year deal to Bennett (and Ekblad) – as he did with Sam Reinhart last year – while the remaining 31 teams can only offer seven-year deals.

Plus, the Panthers are one of six NHL teams with a built-in edge – however small or large – at the bargaining table: Florida does not levy state income tax, meaning players get more take home pay from comparable contracts to those offered by teams in states and provinces that do collect income tax.

Florida, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Seattle, Vegas and Nashville are all located in states that don’t levy income tax.

Those six teams absorb lower cap hits (or annual average values), than the rest of the league’s teams, to provide players equal after-tax money.

As an example, the tax calculator from Puckpedia.com and Cardinal Point shows that a $7-million U.S. AAV contract from Florida yields approximately the same take-home pay ($4.45 million) as a $9.5 million AAV contract from hometown team Toronto.

This is a broad strokes comparison – there are other financial elements at play – but it is a financial reality.

Despite this, the NHL and NHLPA have both said they don’t view this as a significant competitive advantage for teams in tax-free  environments.

TSN's Top 50 UFAs