With how successful he's been with the Florida Panthers, forward Carter Verhaeghe was destined to get such a long extension.

GM Bill Zito on Verhaeghe's new 8-year, $56 million extension: "He kind of embodies what we’ve started to build here."

Fresh off the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, the Panthers made the latest in a strong of moves designed to keep the team in title contention for years to come. On Tuesday, Florida signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to an eight-year contract extension that kicks in next season worth $56 million.

The Florida Panthers started off their 2024-25 campaign swimmingly, beating the Boston Bruins in front of the home crowd before locking up a key piece of the core in Carter Verhaeghe mere hours later.