How Did Spencer Knight Get a Larger Contract Than Jake Oettinger?

The Florida Panthers have extended goaltender Spencer Knight to a three-year deal, but I must be missing something.

On Tuesday, the 21-year-old agreed to a new contract that will kick in at the start of the 2023-2024 season. The annual average value (AAV) of the extension will be $4.5 million.

Now, I like Spencer Knight. I predicted that he would take over as the starting goaltender for the Cats last season, and I would have been more than comfortable with that move for Florida. I even lobbied for him to come in during the team’s first-round series against the Washington Capitals.

With that said, I have no idea how Knight came away with this much money, especially after Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger set the market for young netminders at a lower number earlier this summer.

The Panthers must really not want to lose Spencer Knight.

For the Stars last season, Oettinger made 46 starts (48 appearances overall) and posted a 30-15-1 record with a .914 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against average (GAA).

In the playoffs, the second-year player nearly stole his team’s first-round series against the Calgary Flames single-handedly when he posted a .954 save percentage and a 1.81 GAA in seven games.

As a fellow NHL sophomore, Knight had a less impressive season, despite playing on the best regular season team in the league last year. In 32 games, he went 19-9-3 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.79 GAA. He did not appear in the postseason.

Now, in spite of those facts, it is Knight that will be making $500,000 more per year than his counterpart. Only one of those two players figures to be his team’s starter when the upcoming season gets underway, and spoiler alert, it’s not Spencer Knight.

The Panthers still have two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky in the room and under contract through the 2025-2026 season. He will make $10 million per year while Knight eventually starts making $4.5 million.

Again, I like Knight, and I understand that he’s supposed to be the Panthers’ goalie of the future. However, he hasn’t proven to be that player yet, Bobrovsky is still on the roster, and Florida exceeded the precedent set for future franchise goaltenders by Oettinger and the Stars.

In three to four years, this might turn out to be a steal for the Cats. Right now though, it’s a head-scratcher, and both the Panthers and Spencer Knight have a lot to prove between now and the end of this deal.