Insider reveals why the Florida Panthers were so willing to overpay Spencer Knight

The Florida Panthers made a surprising move last week extending Spencer Knight to a three year $4.5 million contract extension. Spencer Knight has played well for the Panthers and he is their first round pick in 2019. All of these would be reasons Florida would want to keep Knight long-term. Perhaps the surprising part of this contract extension is the timing of it. Florida does not have a lot of cap space to work with currently. Luckily for the Panthers, Knight's new deal won't start until next season. The real reason for the contract extension was that the organization was worried some other team would sign him to an offer sheet at the end of this season. TSN insider Pierre LeBrun stated « The Panthers were legitimately worried about the possibility of another team offer sheeting Knight.» From Florida's perspective they're already towards the salary cap ceiling. If another team approached Knight, it would be difficult to retain him. As a result, the Panthers offered Knight a three year bridge contract.