Panthers Sign Nathan Horton to Six-Year Contract

[Thrillhouse]

SUNRISE, Fla. - Florida Panthers General Manager and Head Coach Jacques Martin announced today that the club has agreed to terms on a six-year contract extension with RW Nathan Horton.

"Nathan compiled a career best season last year, proving to be one of our club's top offensive threats," said Martin. "He is a very skilled and talented player who is a key part of our nucleus of offensive talent. By signing Nathan to a long term deal, we hope that this serves as further proof about our organization's dedication and commitment to bringing continued stability and success to the Panthers and the South Florida community."

Horton, 22, was drafted by Florida with the third overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. This past season, Horton was one of only six Panthers to play in all 82 games, while posting career highs in goals (31), assists (31), points (62), GWG (3), PPG (7) and plus/minus (+15). He notched a career-best three assists on Nov. 16 vs. Montreal. Horton also recorded a three-game goal scoring streak from Feb. 6 - Feb. 10. He also twice recorded a five-game point streak (Oct. 28 - Nov. 10 and Dec. 16 - Dec. 26).

"Over the past year, Nathan has taken significant steps in his growth process and we believe that he possesses many of the essential qualities that we strive for in our players," said Martin. "He joins a growing list of players who have signed multi-year deals to remain with the Panthers that include Olli Jokinen, Ville Peltonen, Ruslan Salei, Mike Van Ryn and Bryan Allen."

The Welland, Ontario native has played in 208 career games, all with Florida. For his career, Horton has scored 73 goals (16 on the power play), along with 58 assists and a plus-18 rating. Horton became the youngest player in NHL history to score on a penalty shot on Jan. 8, 2004 at Philadelphia.

"With our commitment to Nathan we have great confidence that he will take the next step to become a dominant player for the Panthers for many years to come," said Martin.

[Odjick29]

good signing, he will be worth more then 4M per maybe even next year...

[Humpzilla]

Talk about a steal.

Then again, will the Florida Panthers even be around in 6 years.....

[R.Middleton]

Excellent signing! A underated player who is very young.

[JKidd]

Nice job by the Cats. Young kid that has a bit of a nasty streak to'em and can put the puck in the net.

[Isles4life]

Great deal by the Panthers. Horton's only getting better and he's already proven to be a great offensive talent. He should be a major cornerstone of that franchise for a long time, wherever they may end up playing...

[Faz]

How high is Horton's peak? Is he a 100-point player? A 50-goal scorer?

You get the feeling he's definitely not there yet, despite putting in a pretty damn good year last year.

Seems to have the tools and attitude, if he gets his body right. And at 22, there's plenty of time for him to get stronger, too.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by WildyCoyote34

Excellent signing! A underated player who is very young.

He isn't underrated he just plays for a team nobody cares. If he would play for the Leafs everybody would be talking about him as the next Wendel Clark.

[BrianTheAdsFan]

6 years??? Definate steal by the Panthers. Anyone have the money involved? Seems like he could have signed for 3 and then at 25, could have really cashed in. Must like getting that tan...