Feb 15, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Luke Kunin (11) shoots against the Washington Capitals during the first period at Bridgestone Arena.
Former Nashville Predators forward Luke Kunin is now part of a Stanley Cup Championship team.
Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito announced Friday afternoon that the club has agreed to terms with Kunin on a one-year contract.
The 6-foot, 197-pound native of Chesterfield, Mo., skated with the Predators in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
In 120 regular-season games over those two seasons, Kunin recorded 23 goals and 18 assists for 41 points. In 10 playoff appearances with Nashville, he had two goals and an assist.
Kunin was originally selected in the first round (15th overall) by the Minnesota Wild in the 2016 NHL Draft. He has also played with the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 27-year-old right-shot forward produced 18 points (11-7-18) in 63 games with the Sharks in 2024-25 before being acquired by the Blue Jackets. He suited up in 12 contests with Columbus.
Kunin was leading San Jose forwards with 165 hits and serving as an alternate captain when he was acquired by the Blue Jackets.
All told, Kunin has skated in 434 NHL games between the four teams, collecting 142 points (73-69-142). He ranked second among Nashville’s forward group with 223 hits in 2021-22.
Prior to his NHL experience, Kunin played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin (Big-10), logging 70 points over 69 NCAA games with the Badgers from 2015-16 to 2016-17. He served as captain during his sophomore year, leading the team with 22 goals and 38 points in 35 games, and paced the team with 19 goals over 34 games in his freshman campaign.
Internationally, Kunin earned gold representing the United States at the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and 2017 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship. He served as captain for the U.S. at the 2017 WJC, where he posted four points (2-2-4) over seven tournament games. At the 2015 U18 WJC, he scored six goals (6-0-6) in seven contests.
With Matthew Tkachuk expected to miss significant time in the first half of the season, Kunin will give the Stanley Cup champs some much-needed depth as a bottom-six forward. He is a gritty competitor and will certainly fit Zito’s profile of a physical player.