EDGE stats behind Bennett winning Conn Smythe Trophy with Panthers

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the underlying metrics behind Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

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Sam Bennett was the best goal scorer of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and, after the Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions, was selected as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player of the postseason.

Bennett, who will turn 29 years old on June 20 and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, led the NHL with 15 goals in 23 playoff games, including five in six games against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, helping them become the first-ever repeat champion to win four series as the lower-seeded team.

Bennett set an NHL record for road goals (13) in a single postseason, joined Zach Hyman (16 in 2024), Alex Ovechkin (15 in 2018) and Sidney Crosby (15 in 2009) as the fourth active player to score 15 goals in a single postseason and became the second player in League history to score 15-plus goals in a single postseason without any 30-goal regular-seasons (other: Newsy Lalonde of the Montreal Canadiens had 17 in 1919). Bennett, Sam Reinhart (seven) and Brad Marchand (six) became the first trio of teammates in 70 years to each score at least five times in the same Cup Final (last: Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay for the Detroit Red Wings in 1955).

Bennett, who was the only player with at least one point in each of the first five games of the Cup Final, was acquired by the Panthers from the Calgary Flames in 2021 after being selected by his former team with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. He has made the playoffs in each of his first five seasons with Florida and played a key role during three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances. Elevating his game the later the season goes, Bennett has career averages of 0.49 points per game in the regular season, 0.73 in the playoffs and 0.78 in the Cup Final (14 points in 18 games).

Bennett became the first player with double-digit goals and 100-plus hits in a single postseason (he finished second in NHL with 107 hits this postseason) since hits were first tracked in 2005-06; the only player with more than 60 hits while scoring 15-plus goals in a single playoff year was Ovechkin in 2018 (15 goals, 81 hits; won Conn Smythe Trophy during Washington Capitals' Stanley Cup run).

Here are three underlying numbers behind Bennett’s postseason heroics:

1. High-danger goals, shots on goal by location

While Bennett's final goal of the playoffs in Game 5 of the Cup Final was from the midrange region of the ice, his fourth such goal from that location of the postseason (tied for the most in the League), most of his damage was done from high-danger areas where he was tied with Corey Perry of the Oilers for the NHL lead (eight high-danger goals each). The Panthers led the NHL as a team in high-danger goals (52) during the 2025 playoffs, ahead of the Oilers, who ranked second (45).

Bennett also finished tied for second in high-danger shots on goal (27 in 23 games) and third in shots on goal overall (69) in the League during the playoffs; he trailed only Edmonton's Connor McDavid (29 in 22 games) in high-danger shots on goal and ranked behind only McDavid (80) and Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (70) in shots on goal overall.

2. Speed bursts, skating distance

Bennett brought plenty of speed in addition to his scoring and physicality, making him the complete package this postseason. He ranked highly in 20-plus mph speed bursts (47; eighth in entire NHL) and total skating distance (72.59 miles; seventh in League); 13 of those 20-plus mph speed bursts came in the Cup Final, with with forward Carter Verhaeghe for the team lead. Among forwards, Bennett finished third in even-strength skating distance (64.85 miles) during the playoffs behind McDavid (77.18 miles) and Leon Draisaitl (67.19 miles).

3. Goals off the rush, “Goals Above Projected”

NHL EDGE IQ, powered by Amazon Web Services, uses "Projected Goal Rate" (PGR) to estimate the likelihood of a shot attempt becoming a goal. The Actual Goal Rate (AGR) of all shots this season across the League is 5.1 percent. For context, anything at or above a PGR of 12.0 percent is considered a high-probability attempt. Inferenced shot attempts exclude shots greater than 60 feet, those beyond the goal line and empty-net attempts.

Bennett led the Stanley Cup Final with eight inferenced shot attempts with a PGR of at least 12.0 percent. He was opportunistic by forcing his shot to be saved by an Edmonton goalie on four, and scoring on three of those eight high-probability attempts (other shot attempt missed the net):

• PGR: 29.28 percent: Power-play goal scored off offensive zone play (1st period of Game 2)
• PGR: 20.72 percent: Goal scored off the rush (2nd period of Game 1)
• PGR: 16.91 percent: Goal scored off the rush (2nd period of Game 3)

Three of Bennett’s five goals in the Cup Final came off the rush which is defined by NHL EDGE IQ as a goal that occurs within five seconds of the puck crossing the offensive blue line. Bennett and Marchand (four) combined to score seven of Florida's 10 goals off the rush on inferenced shot attempts in the series; Edmonton had only four rush goals, each scored by a different player, in the Cup Final.

Among the 115 inferenced shot attempts by Bennett during the postseason, his actual goal rate (9.57 percent) far exceeded his PGR (6.06 percent), given the goalie's positioning, puck movement and traffic at the time of release.

In terms of “Projected Goals,” or the sum of projected goal rate across all of a player’s attempts (assessment of quantity and quality; average PGR times inferenced shot attempts), Bennett was projected to score 6.97 times (.0606 times 115 inferenced shot attempts) but has exceeded that projection with 11 goals on those inferenced shot attempts. Bennett’s mark of 4.03 “Goals Above Projected” (GAP) this postseason led the NHL among skaters who were in the 50th percentile and above of shot attempts.

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More EDGE stats on Bennett