- Pierre LeBrun reports the Panthers are working on a new extension with forward Eetu Luostarinen
- Luostarinen has one year and $3 million left on his deal and could sign as early as Wednesday
- Read below for what the two-way forward means to Florida’s back-to-back title run
Florida wants to keep one of its quiet difference-makers off the open market.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported Tuesday that the Panthers are working on a contract extension with forward Eetu Luostarinen. The deal could be announced as early as Wednesday, the same day free agency opens.
Here’s LeBrun with where things stand:
Luostarinen has one year and $3 million left on the three-year, $9 million deal he signed in 2023. He was set to reach unrestricted free agency next summer. Florida would rather handle it now.
LeBrun called him an “important cog,” and the Panthers clearly agree.
He arrived in South Florida almost as an afterthought. Carolina drafted Luostarinen 42nd overall in 2017, then shipped him out in the 2020 deal that sent Vincent Trocheck to Raleigh. His first season with the Panthers was a rough one.
Five years later, he is a fixture. Luostarinen has racked up 58 goals and 153 points in 395 games with Florida, and he plays a heavy game, clearing 100 hits a season while killing penalties and grinding out battles along the wall.
The postseason is where the value jumps out. He set career playoff highs with 14 assists and 19 points during Florida’s run to a second straight Stanley Cup, doing the two-way work that holds up in June.
Take a look at what he brought last season:
The extension talk lands in the middle of a busy Florida summer. The Panthers have already reworked their goaltending, trading for Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid while Sergei Bobrovsky heads to the open market.
Getting the deal done before Wednesday means Florida never has to watch Luostarinen test the market.
