NHL Insider Confirms Leafs Making Panthers Nervous When it Comes to Sam Bennett

There is big news for the cohort of Toronto Maple Leafs fans who are hoping the team can land Sam Bennett in free agency.

Sportsnet insider John Shannon recently said teams like the Vancouver Canucks shouldn't even bother reaching out to Bennett come July 1 as the only two teams he's interested in signing with are the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Shannon has now increased the odds of Bennett coming to Toronto as he revealed on the Leafs Morning Take podcast that the Panthers aren't confident they can re-sign him.

Bennett was born and raised in Ontario, and recently revealed that the reason he wore number 93 in Calgary is because Doug Gilmour was his father's favourite player.

Knowing that Bennett is only interested in playing for two teams, and that the one he's currently with isn't convinced he's willing to stay, is enough to give Leafs fans hope that he's coming home.

Leafs GM Brad Treliving promised that big changes for the team are on the way at his year-end news conference on Thursday, adding that Toronto's DNA needs to be different.

Adding a gritty, talented forward like Bennett to the lineup would certainly go a long way in accomplishing that. At the same time, Bennett is going to command far more than the $4.425 million he's currently getting, and Treliving will have to be careful about potentially breaking the bank on a player who had a career year in 2024-25 with 51 points.