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Panthers Sign Nathan Horton to Six-Year Contract
Thursday, Jun. 21st, 2007
"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.
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