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The Florida Panthers have agreed to an eight-year extension with defenseman Niko Mikkola, and as a result have locked in each of their top four defensemen until at least 2030.
Sources said the extension has an average annual value of $5 million.
Mikkola’s new deal, announced Thursday by general manager Bill Zito without financial terms, comes as the Panthers begin their quest for a three-peat without two of their biggest stars. Matthew Tkachuk is recovering from offseason surgery and is expected to be back around December. Captain Aleksander Barkov tore an ACL and MCL at a preseason practice and has a projected recovery from surgery of seven to nine months.
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Mikkola, 29, has found his game with the Panthers, where he was a key defensive cog in each of their Stanley Cup wins. He has appeared in 46 playoff games over the past two seasons, averaging 19:23 per contest. He also scored some clutch (if unlikely) goals, including the game winner in Game 3 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, Mikkola’s game blends physicality with strong skating.
“Niko has proven himself to be a dependable defenseman who uses his speed and physicality to impact both ends of the ice,” Zito said in a statement. “He was an indispensable piece of our past two championship campaigns, and we are thrilled that Niko will be continuing his career with the Florida Panthers.”
A native of Finland, Mikkola was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fifth round (No. 127) of the 2015 NHL draft. After three seasons in St. Louis, he was traded to the New York Rangers in 2023 as part of the Vladimir Tarasenko deal.
He signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Panthers in 2023 as a free agent. This season is the final year of that deal; the extension will kick in for 2026-27 and runs through 2033-34. Fellow Panthers defensemen Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones have already committed to long-term deals.
Mikkola is expected to be named to the Finnish team for the 2026 Olympics in Milan.