The Panthers have agreed to a multi-year contract extension with general manager Bill Zito, the club announced Monday. Zito has also been named the team’s president of hockey operations as part of the deal.
Florida handed Zito the keys to their front office in September 2020, weeks after they were eliminated by the Islanders in the qualifying round of the 2020 bubble playoffs. The club was cycling through periods of mediocrity at the time, and the last big splash by previous GM Dale Tallon, a seven-year, $70M contract for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency, had failed miserably in its inaugural season.
He made his first splash less than a month after being hired, acquiring winger Patric Hornqvist from the Penguins in exchange for depth forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Mike Matheson, followed up by drafting Anton Lundell 12th overall in 2020 and inking future top-six fixture Carter Verhaeghe to a bargain-bin two-year, $2M deal in free agency.
Immediately, the Cats roared to life. They finished second in the modified Central Division during the abbreviated 2020-21 season, and their 37-14-5 record would have been their best in franchise history by a country mile over an 82-game campaign.
The following year carried a mixed start — they began the season with a 7-0-0 record, but head coach Joel Quenneville abruptly announced his resignation in late October after meeting with commissioner Gary Bettman to discuss his involvement in addressing a 2010 incident as head coach of the Blackhawks when video coach Brad Aldrich allegedly sexually assaulted prospect Kyle Beach during that year’s playoffs.
Zito kept his corresponding move internal, promoting assistant Andrew Brunette to the interim head coach role. Under Brunette, the Panthers finished the season 51-18-6, won the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, and won their first playoff series since 1996.
Zito’s biggest move came in the summer of 2022 after they were swept in the second round by the in-state rival Lightning. In the first true sign-and-trade in league history, Zito dealt reigning assists leader Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to the Flames, along with other assets, for All-Star winger Matthew Tkachuk with an eight-year, $76M extension in tow.
While Weegar has been a solid piece for the Flames, Tkachuk has vastly outperformed Huberdeau since the swap and costs $1M less annually on his extension.
With Paul Maurice now behind the bench after Zito opted not to make Brunette the full-time bench boss, Tkachuk played an integral role as Florida struggled through the regular season but upset their way to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, knocking off the 135-point Bruins in the first round in the process.
Bobrovsky rebounding to Vezina-level form has given Zito a considerable amount of help, but he’s still displayed incredible skill at picking up low-risk, high-ceiling targets. Waiver claim Gustav Forsling has exploded as one of the best two-way threats in the league and just received a fair-value eight-year, $46M extension from Zito.
Picking up defenseman Brandon Montour from the Sabres for a third-round pick in 2021 has paid heavy dividends, and other low-cost trade or UFA pickups like Sam Bennett, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz have Florida positioned yet again as a Stanley Cup contender without much dead money or bloated long-term commitments on the books.
Zito’s most significant offseason might be this upcoming one. Roughly half of Florida’s NHL-rostered skaters are on expiring deals, and Montour and winger Sam Reinhart will be among the top options available at their respective positions should they head to market.
Getting them signed or letting them walk will be his biggest task this summer, as well as debating an extension for Aaron Ekblad, who has one season left at a $7.5M cap hit but has had a sharp decline over the past few seasons while dealing with injuries.
Before joining the Panthers, Zito was with the Blue Jackets for seven years as their associate general manager, earning a promotion to VP of hockey operations and alternate governor later on is his tenure.
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