Surgical end effector assemblies and surgical instruments for energy-based tissue cutting

A surgical end effector assembly (140), comprising:

• first and second jaw members (142, 144) including respective first and second tissue contacting surfaces (146, 148), at least one of the first or second jaw members (142, 144) movable relative to the other of the first or second jaw members (142, 144) between a spaced apart position and an approximated position, wherein the second jaw member (144) includes a cutting electrode (149) extending from the second jaw member (144) towards the first jaw member (142), characterized in that:
• the first jaw member (142) includes a jaw body (143b) defining a slot (161), a compression pad (162) at least partially disposed within the slot (161), and at least one spring (1080, 1081, 1180, 1281a, 1281b, 1380, 1480, 1580) operably coupling the compression pad (162) with the jaw body (143b).