Aaron Ekblad appears the least likely of the Panthers’ three major pending unrestricted free agents to sign a new deal with the club, Pierre LeBrun said on TSN’s Early Trading on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to say there’s no chance he re-signs, but the reality is that I don’t think there’s been a lot of negotiation throughout the year since last summer on Aaron Ekblad,” LeBrun said. “I think the term was an issue the last time both sides talked about a potential extension. There’s some hard miles there on Ekblad, although he’s a very important player on that team.”
Testing the free agent waters isn’t Ekblad’s first choice. During the later stages of their championship run, he was public about his desire to stay with the Panthers, who drafted him first overall in 2014. However, while LeBrun relays that the Panthers aren’t willing to offer him a max-term extension, the AAV of the deal was also a point of contention as recently as a couple of weeks ago, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
With Florida not offering him maximum security nor matching the $7.5MM cap hit of his expiring contract, Ekblad may feel he’s leaving too much on the table by staying in Sunrise. He’ll be the most coveted defenseman on the market and will rank high among our top 50 free agents this summer – that list will release ahead of Friday’s draft. Those “hard miles” LeBrun mentioned could sway some suitors away from offering him the most extended contract. Still, as he’s only eligible for a seven-year deal if he hits the market, that may be more appealing to some than an eight-year deal is to the Cats.
Ekblad hasn’t played a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19, and he’s only hit the 70-game mark once since then. He’s lost at least 20 games due to injury in three of the last five seasons, not including the 20-game ban he received this year for performance-enhancing substances.
When healthy this year, though, Ekblad showed he’s still a top-pairing threat when in the lineup. He got some power-play minutes back after Brandon Montour left for the Kraken in free agency last summer, and his point totals rebounded in kind after underwhelming offensive showings in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He produced a 3-30–33 scoring line in 56 games, the fourth-highest points per game rate of his career, and averaged north of 23 minutes per game in the process.
Ekblad’s possession impacts haven’t been elite at any point in his career, but he’s never been a defensive liability, either. That didn’t change in 2024-25, posting a 55.9 CF% at even-strength that was 1.1% higher relative to Florida’s possession play without him on the ice.
The 29-year-old is likely a year or two past his absolute peak earning potential, a risk he took when signing an eight-year, $60MM extension immediately upon becoming eligible to do so in the final year of his entry-level contract. All 11 of his NHL seasons have been spent in a Panthers jersey, and he’s far and away the most impactful defenseman in Panthers franchise history. He’s first in games played (732), goals (118), assists (262), points (380), and second in plus-minus (+96) behind frequent partner Gustav Forsling’s +166 mark over the last five years.
AFP Analytics projects Ekblad could earn $7.8MM per season on a max-term seven-year deal on the open market, meaning right-shot-needy teams who aren’t in a favorable cap position like the Avalanche and Stars won’t be in the conversation. Other teams with more cash to spend in a contending position or looking to make the jump, like the Hurricanes, Sabres, Blue Jackets, and Red Wings, could be legitimate suitors if he doesn’t sign a new deal with Florida.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Great team player, but he is injured too much to sign him to more than 3-4 years
This is the player TOR needs.
They should go after him but anything longer than 3-4 years is going to hurt on the backend of the deal.
Never believed for a moment all 3 UFAs in Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand would all stay in Sunrise especially since all would have to take below their market value which wasn’t ever going to happen. All that speech about staying from the 3 of them was nothing more than talk. Honestly, I think only one of those three end up staying in the end. Who exactly is anyone’s guess at this point.
It was first reported that an extension for Bennett was done but now it’s being reported there was a setback during negotiations. I think they’ll resign Bennett and Marchand out of the 3. Picking up Jones at the deadline replaces Ekblad.
The setback was that Benny still isn’t sober enough to sign a financial document, lol!
Sam Bennett is THE priority, And they certainly can’t keep everyone.
Eckblad running into the Stamkos dilema. Love to have you, but not at an inflated price and ter
The math just doesn’t add up to keep all 3, along with signing Samoskevich, Nosek, Schmidt, and backup goalie. Ekblad was really good this year, very underappreciated. Marchand was great but Samo can replace him. Would love to see Ekblad solidify Detroit’s defense, he will make more than 7.8 AAV on the open market.
They will uncover another gem to replace him because they always do.
The only way to keep all 3 of those UFA’s is if one of them signs a one year below market value deal and then signs a longer term deal in 2026 when the cap is expected to go way up. Benny will get paid, we know that much.
He has always been third in line. He was always the one that take a big cut in salary If he really wants too stay.
He was only third in line unless he were to take an undervalued deal to stay.i suspect it is the amount of years he is asking for that is the sticking point in negotiations. It is a hard one for the Panthers because he is still highly effective when available. The availability has been the problem for a number of years now. Let’s see what Zito has up his sleeve if Ekblad leaves.