Florida Panthers star Sam Bennett wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on Tuesday night after leading all players in goals scored to help the Florida Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

Bennett scored 15 goals during a postseason run that culminated with a victory in Game 6 of the final against the Edmonton Oilers. He finished ahead of teammate Brad Marchand in the voting.

“The amount of guys that stepped up this year and had incredible years, incredible playoff runs, it truly could have went to anyone,” Bennett said. “I’m so grateful. It’s such a huge honor, but I truly mean that: It could’ve went to anyone, and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Bennett was a factor throughout the playoffs making big hits, crowding the crease and knocking opponents off their game. He drew anger from the Toronto Maple Leafs after he elbowed goaltender Anthony Stolarz during Game 1 in the second round and he was a frequent presence in front of Edmonton goalies Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

“Everyone looks at the goals and rightfully so, but it’s everything he does, even away from the puck," teammate Seth Jones said. “His physical presence out there, his 200-foot game, the way he plays away from the puck defensively, how he is on face-offs, I think it’s the complete package we’re lucky to have. It’s been a big part of our success. He puts a lot of teams, a lot of defensemen on their heels out there.”

Bennett's game traveled, too. In Game 2 against Edmonton, he scored his 12th road goal of 2025 to set an NHL record.

Bennett could parlay his massive postseason success into a lucrative contract as a free agent whether he re-signs with Florida or goes elsewhere. The 28-year-old said it has “actually been pretty easy” to set aside his pending free agency and uncertain future.

“Competing for a Stanley Cup has always been my goal and my passion, and what I’ve wanted to do,” Bennett said before Game 6. “That’s just my focus. That’s all I want, and it’s been quite easy to just not even think about what’s to come. I mean, yeah, it’s really just a singular focus and that’s how I’ve tried to handle it.”

Bennett contributed to back-to-back goals in Game 1 by standing in front of and falling onto Skinner, and he made a big hit on Vasily Podkolzin and scored seconds later in Florida's Game 3 victory. All series, he was in the middle of the action.

“Physical player, incredible speed and then the hands to finish,” coach Paul Maurice said.

In a lot of ways, Bennett embodies Panthers hockey: hard-nosed, tough, willing to mix it up and also skilled enough to take advantage of mistakes.

“He does it all — it’s fun to watch,” fourth-liner Jonah Gadjovich said. “He's throwing huge hits, he’s playing hard defensively, working pucks in the corners, getting to the net, and obviously scoring a ton of goals. ... He’s one of the leaders on the team, someone that we can all get behind.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) blocks a shot by Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) during the second period of Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett (9) celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers with Matthew Tkachuk (19) and Eetu Luostarinen (27) during the second period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Sunrise, Fla., Monday, June 9, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presents the Conn Smythe Trophy to Sam Bennett after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett lifts the Stanley Cup after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s second term has been eventful. You wouldn’t know it from his approval numbers.

An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.

The new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research does show subtle signs of vulnerability for the Republican president. Trump hasn’t convinced Americans that the economy is in good shape, and many question whether he has the right priorities when he’s increasingly focused on foreign intervention. His approval rating on immigration, one of his signature issues, has also slipped since he took office.

Here’s how Americans’ views of Trump have — and haven’t — changed over the past year, according to AP-NORC polling.

Call it a gift or a curse — for all his unpredictability, Trump's approval numbers just don't change very much.

This was largely the case during his first term in office, too. Early in his first term, 42% of Americans approved of how he was handling the presidency. There were some ups and downs over the ensuing years, but he left office with almost the same approval.

That level of consistency on presidential approval numbers could be the new normal for U.S. politics — or it could be unique to Trump. Gallup polling since the 1950s shows that presidential approval ratings have grown less variable over time. But President Joe Biden had a slightly different experience. Biden, a Democrat, entered the White House with higher approval numbers than Trump has ever received, but those fell rapidly during his first two years in office, then stayed low for the remainder of his term.

Most Americans have held a critical view of Trump throughout his time in office, and Americans are twice as likely to say he's focused on the wrong priorities than the right ones. About half of U.S. adults say he’s mostly focusing on the wrong priorities one year into his second term, and approximately 2 in 10 say he’s mostly focused on the right priorities. Another 2 in 10, roughly, say it’s been about an even mix, and 14% say they don't have an opinion.

The economy has haunted Trump in his first year back in the White House, despite his insistence that “the Trump economic boom has officially begun.”

Just 37% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy. That’s up slightly from 31% in December — which marked a low point for Trump — but Trump started out with low approval on this issue, which doesn’t give him a lot of room for error.

The economy is a new problem for Trump. His approval rating on this issue in his first term fluctuated, but it was typically higher. Close to half of Americans approved of Trump’s economic approach for much of his first White House stint, and he’s struggled to adjust to this as a weak point. Americans care a lot more about costs than they did in Trump’s first term, and, like Biden, he’s persistently asserted that the U.S. economy is not a problem while the vast majority describe it as “poor.”

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has done more to hurt the cost of living in his second term, while only about 2 in 10 say he’s done more to help. About one-quarter say he hasn't made an impact.

When Trump entered office, immigration was among his strongest issues. It’s since faded, a troubling sign for Trump, who campaigned on both economic prosperity and crackdowns to illegal immigration.

Just 38% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, down from 49% in March. The poll was conducted Jan. 8-11, shortly after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

But there are signs that Americans still give Trump some leeway on immigration issues. About half of U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, which is unchanged since April, despite an immigration crackdown that spread to cities across the U.S. in the second half of the year.

Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump has helped immigration and border security “a lot” or “a little” in his second term. This is an area where Democrats are more willing to give Trump some credit. About 2 in 10 Democrats say Trump has helped on this issue, higher than the share of Democrats who say he's helped on costs or job creation.

Trump has focused his attention more on foreign policy in his second term, and polling shows most Americans disapprove of his approach.

But much like Trump's overall approval, views of his handling of foreign policy have changed little in his second term, despite wide-ranging actions including his push to control Greenland and the recent military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

About 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of foreign policy, and most Americans, 56%, say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries.

Trump’s continued focus on global issues could be a liability given its sharp contrast with the “America First” platform he ran on and Americans’ growing concern with costs at home. But it could also be hard to shift views on the issue — even if Trump takes more dramatic action in the coming months.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,203 adults was conducted Jan. 8-11 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

President Donald Trump holds a bill that returns whole milk to school cafeterias across the country, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One from Florida, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)