Eetu Luostarinen isn’t going anywhere. The Florida Panthers are putting the finishing touches on a contract extension with the two-time Stanley Cup champion winger, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. It could be official as soon as Wednesday.
LeBrun reported Tuesday that the Panthers and Luostarinen have been working on a new deal. He’s got one year left on his current contract, which pays him $3 million for the 2026-27 season. The timing matters: that final year officially starts at noon Eastern on Wednesday, which is when he can actually sign an extension.
Luostarinen is one of those guys who doesn’t jump off the stat sheet but coaches love having around. He came over from Carolina in the Vincent Trocheck trade a few years ago and quietly became a fixture in Florida’s bottom six. During the 2025 playoffs, he put up 19 points in 23 games and was a real factor on both ends of the ice for those championship runs.
Why This Move Matters for Florida
The Panthers have had a weird offseason. They missed the playoffs in 2026 after winning it all the year before, and they’ve been retooling in a hurry. The big splash was trading for Brady Tkachuk. But they’ve also added some serious grit in Garnet Hathaway and Radko Gudas. That’s a lot of physicality.
Here’s the thing though. You can’t have 23 guys playing that style. You need some guys who can kill penalties and play smart defensive hockey without running around. That’s Luostarinen. He’s been a reliable penalty killer for years, and the Panthers clearly value that more than whatever they’d find on the open market.
Florida won’t be very active in free agency anyway. They’ve already spent most of their cap space. The Luostarinen extension is basically their version of a free agent signing — keeping their own guy instead of chasing someone else’s.
Goaltending Is Settled Too
The Panthers also sorted out their goalie situation before getting to this. Sergei Bobrovsky is likely out, with Jacob Markstrom coming in from New Jersey. They also picked up Akira Schmid from Vegas. That cleared up enough cap room to make Luostarinen’s new deal work without squeezing anyone else out.
So the roster is taking shape. The Panthers are trying to bounce back after that ugly 2026 collapse, and keeping a guy like Luostarinen gives them some continuity in the bottom six. He’s not the flashiest name in the room, but he’s the kind of player you need when you’re trying to make another deep playoff run.
Free agency opens Wednesday. The Panthers probably won’t do much, but they’ll at least have their guy locked up before then.
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