Panthers’ Sam Bennett Could Be In Contention To Make Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off Roster

Best-on-best international hockey is soon to return and one Florida Panther is making his case to be there for it. 

Sam Bennett has been an instrumental piece to the Panthers’ success over the past few years — especially come playoff time.

After helping the Panthers win the Stanley Cup last season, the 28-year-old forward is off to the best start of his 10-year NHL career, scoring 8 goals and 13 points through 13 games.

Bennett’s early regular season hot streak couldn’t come at a better time. He’s in the final year of a four-year contract and is sure to garner a lot of interest if he hits the open market this summer. 

But being a top pending UFA isn’t the only reason why eyes could be on Bennett this season.

Florida’s high-octane second-line center may be playing himself into a roster spot on Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

All four teams: Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden, will need to have their 23-man rosters submitted by Dec. 2 for the international tournament that is set to run from Feb. 12-20 next year. 

In their latest roster projections, The Athletic has Bennett making Team Canada — alongside his Panther teammate Sam Reinhart.

Before last postseason, Bennett probably wouldn’t have been in too many mock rosters for this tournament — but the success of the Panthers has certainly put more eyes on the defending Cup champions’ players.

Bennett had 14 points (7-7-14) in 19 playoff games during Florida’s Cup run last season — with 12 of them coming after injuring his hand in Game 2 of the first-round.

Bennett is currently on pace to score 52 goals and 82 points in an 82 game season — which would shatter his career highs. It’s unlikely that Bennett will sustain that offensive production but scoring isn’t his entire game. 

While he can produce offensively, Canada’s front office will have a plethora of scoring options to choose from. Bennett’s chance of making the team will largely be due to his physical, 200-foot game

For these short, best-on-best tournaments, there’s no time for trial and error. Bennett has the resume of performing well on the biggest stages and the aggressive play style he’s known for only  hits another gear in elimination settings. 

The Canadian roster will be filled to the brim with exceptional superstar forwards, like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Brayden Point. Scoring goals won’t be an issue, however they will need a hard hitting, physical line — that’s where Bennett’s services could be used.

Bruins forward Brad Marchand is one of the few skilled Canadian forwards that fits the “physical forward” mold that they’ll need for this tournament. I’d expect the Bruins captain to be on the team and Sam Bennett would be another great option if Canada wants to have a ‘heavy’ line.

The 4 Nations Face-Off won’t have any semi-final matchups, they’ll go from round-robin play straight to the final. Each team plays each other once — with the best two making the final in Boston. 

Looking at how teams could line up, the Americans will certainly have a heavy roster, with the Tkachuk brothers there to lead the charge in the pesky play department.  It wouldn’t be a bad idea if Canada had Bennett there to counteract someone like his Panther linemate Matthew Tkachuk’s style of play. 

Three Panthers were already named to their respective countries’ rosters  — with Aleksander Barkov (Finland), Gustav Forsling (Sweden) and Matthew Tkachuk (USA) all being part of their nation’s first six names called back in June. 

Florida will more than likely be represented by every nation at the tournament as  Sam Reinhart is expected to be one of the 20 skaters that Canada takes with them to Montreal and Boston next February.

There’s less than a month before rosters are finalized for the 4 Nations. If Bennett keeps up his current play, the Holland Landing, ON. native could see himself dawning the maple leaf come February.