The Florida Panthers have signed center Luke Kunin of Chesterfield, Missouri to a one year contract worth $775,000 according to Puckpedia on Friday. The Panthers are bringing in Kunin for offensive depth. It also comes on the same day the defending Stanley Cup champions announced that forward Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona would have sports hernia and adductor muscle surgeries from injuries suffered during the Four Nations Tournament in February. Tkachuk had 57 points in 52 games for the Panthers in the 2024-25 NHL regular season, and led the NHL with five power-play goals in the postseason.
Fifth NHL team
This past season Kunin split his time with the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. It was his third season with San Jose prior to being traded to Columbus on March 7, 2025 for a fourth round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The Sharks selected defenseman Ilyas Magomedsultanov of Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia. Magomedsultanov played this past season for Loko Yaroslavl of Russia’s Minor Hockey League. Kunin began his NHL career with the Minnesota Wild, and played three seasons there from 2017 to 2020. He then played two seasons with the Nashville Predators from 2020 to 2022.
Kunin’s statistics in 2024-25
Kunin had 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 75 games. He was a -28 with 55 penalty minutes, 112 shots on goal, 186 faceoff wins, 77 blocked shots, 187 hits, 12 takeaways and 30 giveaways.
It is interesting that all 18 of Kunin’s points this past season were with the Sharks in 63 games. None of Kunin’s points were with the Blue Jackets.
Kunin had two multi-point games in 2024-25. He scored twice in a 3-2 Sharks loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on December 10, and had two assists in a 4-2 Sharks loss to the Colorado Avalanche, nine days later on December 19.
Third NHL player from Chesterfield
Kunin is the third player and one of three NHL players all-time to come from the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield. The other two are former Buffalo Sabres center Travis Turnbull, who played three games during the 2011-12 NHL season, and Utah Mammoth center Clayton Keller, who led Utah in scoring this past season with 30 goals, 60 assists and 90 points.
Where will Kunin fit in?
Kunin is currently fifth on the Panthers depth chart at center.
What grade should the Panthers have with the signing?
Florida should be given a D grade. Kunin did nothing of substance in Columbus and has been a terrible -58 over the last two seasons.
