Blog

Sep 05, 2023

Florida Panthers ink Spencer Knight to a three

Published on By The Florida Panthers have signed 21-year-old goalie Spencer

Published

on

By

The Florida Panthers have signed 21-year-old goalie Spencer Knight to a three-year contract extension.

Knight will be paid an annual cap hit of $4.5 million over the course of the deal.

"Spencer is a phenomenal goaltender, as well as an exceptional athlete and person," said Panthers general manager Bill Zito. "He has thrived in his professional career, dedicating himself to his training through his first two seasons with our organization. With this extension, we are excited about the present and future of Panthers goaltending."

Panthers Hockey is Back!

For Daily Coverage of the Florida Panthers from Training camp to the Playoffs, Get a Subscription to Florida Hockey Now!

The 2019 first-round draft pick first joined the team after finishing up his 2020-21 season with Boston College.

He made an immediate impact, going 4-0-0 with a .919/2.32 in his first four regular season games. When the Panthers had goaltending struggles in the playoffs, the then-20-year-old stepped in and went 1-1-0 with a .933/2.06.

In his first full NHL season, Knight went 19-9-0 with a .908/2.79.

He struggled early in the season — going 9-6-2 with a .898/3.22 — but picked his production back up after what was likely the only lengthy AHL stint of his career.

Since being called up from the Charlotte Checkers in March, Knight had a 10-3-1 record with a .921/2.23 and two shutouts.

The Panthers will have the highest-paid goaltending tandems in the league going forward at a combined $14.5 million between Sergei Bobrovsky's $10 million cap hit and Knight's $4.5 million.

The Montreal Canadiens have the second-highest cap hit amongst goalies with their tandem of Carey Price and Jake Allen raking in just over $13 million. Price is likely to start the season on long-term injured reserve, though.

With Price's status for the remainder of his career in flux, the next highest-paid tandem belongs to the Los Angeles Kings with Jonathan Quick and Cal Peterson making a combined $10.9 million.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.

Monday: Florida 4, Nashville 3 (OT)

Monday: Nashville 4, Florida 0

Thursday: vs. Carolina, 7 p.m.

Saturday: at Carolina, 1 p.m.

Oct. 6: vs. Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.

Oct. 8: at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m

Blame Bobrovsky? Florida Panthers Vow to Play Better In Front of Him

Why So Serious? Paul Maurice Gets to the Point After Game 2 Loss

A Tkachuk Trick: Goal, Two Misconducts in Stanley Cup Final Loss

well, I guess that answers the question of whether or not Knights agent will be looking for "starters" money, I guess he was. That feels like an awfully big number for a back-up, even if there is talk of another increase in the cap next year, some are saying it could be as high as 85 to 87 million (currently at 82.5 after a paltry one million dollar raise this year) I still say that's too big a number for a guy that will be riding pine 75% of the time. Usually a move like this would seem to be… Read more »

do you think Bob is bought out next year?

No I do not. Of his $10 million contract in 2023-24, $5 million of that is signing bonus which has to be paid out which makes the buyout number very high. In the final two years (2024-26) that signing bonus figure drops to $1.5m per season. But still, a buyout even in the final two years brings a initial hit of like $6.7m so we’ll see.

Yeah since posing the question I researched it myself which makes this signing of night even more confusing to meIt seems to me the only logical outcome is going to be a trade of some kind with us retaining probably as much as 50% of his salary.

Not necessarily. By the time Knight's new contract ends (Florida will still have his rights for two more years upon the end of this deal), Bobrovsky will likely be playing somewhere else or retired. Bob has four seasons left; Knight is now under contract for the next four with what both sides hope would be a long-term extension following that.

Be the first to know. Enter your email to get the latest from Florida Hockey Now delivered straight to your inbox.

Email Address

Subscribe