6:35 p.m.: Florida has announced Ekblad’s new eight-year contract.
2:15 p.m.: The Panthers and defenseman Aaron Ekblad have made significant progress on a long-term extension to keep him away from the free agent market tomorrow, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports. It will be an eight-year deal worth around $48.8MM for a cap hit of $6.1MM, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. PuckPedia reports the deal contains a full no-move clause for the first six years and a 16-team no-trade in the other two and breaks down as follows:
2025-26 to 2027-28: $1MM salary, $6.9MM signing bonus
2028-29: $1MM salary, $5.14MM signing bonus
2029-30 to 2032-33: $1MM salary, $3.74MM signing bonus
Florida’s commitment to Ekblad, who would have been the top defenseman on the market had he tested free agency, comes after months of hesitancy to dole out a long-term commitment. Now, GM Bill Zito has acquiesced and will give Ekblad the long-term stability he desired with a significant discount on the cap hit he could have landed as a UFA, which McKenzie says could have been as high as $9MM.
The lifelong Panther gets to stay in Florida, who made clear during their run to their second straight Stanley Cup championship that he never wanted to leave. Their 2014 first overall pick set the club’s franchise record for games played and points by a defenseman several years ago, scoring 380 points with a +96 rating in 732 games in a Florida uniform over the past 11 years.
He could very well only end up signing three NHL contracts – his entry-level deal, the eight-year, $60MM extension he signed in 2016, and this one. While no doubt a top-pairing threat now coming in at a significant discount on his previous cap hit of $7.5MM, his injury history was always the holdup in signing him to a long-term deal. The Panthers felt that was a steep enough discount to quell their concerns, while Ekblad was willing to take nearly a 33% cut on his market value to land as much stability as possible.
Although Ekblad hasn’t played a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19 and has only hit the 70-game mark once since then, he did have a mostly healthy 2024-25 campaign that was truncated by a late-season suspension for PEDs. He still finished the season with a 3-30–33 scoring line in 56 games, along with a +11 rating. His 23:31 average time on ice was his most in three years, bolstered by an increase in power-play time in the wake of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour’s departures in free agency last year, which also played a role in his offensive resurgence. His 0.59 points per game in 2024-25 were the fourth-highest mark of his career.
Ekblad was also spectacular in the postseason, posting 13 points and a +10 rating in 19 games. That was his highest point total in any of Florida’s three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
The 29-year-old will now reprise his role alongside Gustav Forsling for the foreseeable future as one of the best two-way pairs in the league. The duo logged 870 minutes together in the regular season and controlled 54.6% of expected goals while doing so, per MoneyPuck. He also forms one of the best one-two punches among right-shot D in the league with in-season acquisition Seth Jones. The trio of Florida’s top three defensemen is now under contract through 2029-30 (when Jones’ deal expires) at a combined cap hit of just $18.85MM – extremely good value that sets the Panthers up to continue having the flexibility to maintain a championship-contending roster.
Florida now has $4.9MM in cap space remaining with five roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia. That rules out an extension for their other highly notable UFA, winger Brad Marchand, at first glance, but they can get creative. They certainly won’t be able to match high-priced multi-year offers without offloading a salary or two, but could offer Marchand, who’s eligible for a bonus-laden one-year deal because of his age, a low base salary with easily achievable performance bonuses. That would allow them to initially be cap compliant with him, but if those bonuses are achieved and exceed the cap, Florida would be hit with a hefty penalty for 2026-27.
Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.
Dang if that’s true it means Marchy has to be gone. Or Zito and team have really spun some magic
Keep an eye on Zito moving out ERod to free up room to keep Marchy.
Would still be pretty tight even if they do and Marchy agrees to less than market. It’s possible but I’m not holding my breath on it.
NOPE… they just announced Marchand 6/32
I stand corrected sir. Go Cats
And…they did.
Bill Zito is a walking masterclass of a GM. I can’t believe this. Yes, the term on these deals is obviously too long (especially Marchand’s), but at that AAV…wow. Not to mention that by the time these deals age, the cap will have gone up significantly, giving FLA even more flexibility.
In the meantime, they’re going to have their core locked up for the next few years while simultaneously giving themselves increased flexibility as the cap rises while keeping these AAV’s so low. Even if/when they age poorly, it won’t handicap them nearly as much as it would’ve in prior years. Ingenious.
Goodness, I hate these guys. They’re so good.
This is looking like a clear sign Brad Marchand is leaving Florida if Aaron Ekblad is staying unless he’s taking a discount or otherwise Marchand is leaving.
To add, Ekblad took a 33% discount apparently but even at $6.1M AAV for 8 years is a contract that’s going to age quite poorly sooner rather than later. Any team that would have signed him long term was going to be stuck with a broken down player in the near future.
The type of players Florida are keeping long term like Bennett, Ekblad, & such is only keeping their playoff window open for a rather short-term as these are players that won’t be lasting long because of the types of players they are.
And even a shot at 1 more cup with this team is worth it. You guys are so worried about how contracts age and there’s literally several ways to skirt around that. Trades, LTIR, Buyouts, etc. Give your team the best chance to win a cup now and nothing else matters. You don’t have to sit on a contract for the entire duration
@feelthethunder. You are pathetic. The best GM in all of sports. All would have gotten 2-3 million more per year from other teams. These deals are amazing. Salaries at the tail end are very low, the cap goes way up. These players have bought into the team culture, not 2-3 high paid, then a vast of characters. That is why the Cup will be South of the boarder for a very long time. Lord Stanley loves the beach, not the snow.
@emt126 – I’m pathetic?! After hearing your diluted diatribe, look in the mirror, you self-delusional fanboy. Best GM in all of sports?!? He didn’t even win GM of the year in the NHL much less be the best GM in all of sports lol. You Panther fans are some of the most arrogantly delirious individuals. Also, their run could end next year as there is no guarantee they’re winning the Cup next season, no one stays on top for long, that’s a reality you’ll soon face.
Haters keep hating.
Well that’s pretty damn cheap. They’re running it back
Cheap? Imagine giving 6.1 per for 8 years for a guy who can’t even average 60 games a year in his prime.
well he couldve likely snagged more than that from other teams so yes, its cheap. they legit only have two guys making 10MM a year and its Barkov and Bob
Could be cheap but also could see this becoming an anchor contract when he can’t take roids anymore and his body continues to fall apart.
He would of got 8×8 open market so yeah he took discounts
20 game suspension gave him enough rest to be very good in the playoffs!
He could only sign for 7 on the open market
anyways, hes making less than Montour now so its fine. he couldve prob made 7×10 playing for the ducks with the cap rising soon
While that might be true, it is well below market value based on all accounts. Especially with the rising cap. It’s cheap
Two down, now to find some cheese for the Rat!
Great signing! He took a huge discount to stay, looks like another cup!
They trade someone to keep Marchand
Nah, still gotta pay goalie and Mackie. I doubt marchand goes under 5 even if he loved fla.
I’m guessing he wouldn’t have gotten $9m/year on a 7 year deal.
Considering the cap situations of the ducks, blue jackets, Canadians, hurricanes I think he easily could.
Would’ve been a bad move to pay him that money through age 37
Have you seen the Canadians blue line. No way would they spend all that cap on him when they have Dobson at 9.5 and Hutson gonna make bank plus Reinbacher and Gruhle
Pre Dobson…? They’ve been negotiating…
I have a feeling Florida’s bottom 6 forwards will look like a who’s who of the AHL this coming season.
Don’t know many that would consider Lundell and Luosty AHL caliber. And they’re certainly not stars but can ask EDM, TOR and others how much they liked going up against Gadjovich and crew.
No, they will have the same group coming back, Samo instead of Marchand
@ Sparky What an ignorant comment.
Wow Sparky, you are just wrong about everything!
The one category in which he annually leads the league. A recent gem of his is stating that the worst thing an NHL team can do is win. Unwrap that one.
With or without Marchand it still is basically the Cup winning team for the last 2 years. They should be the favorites until somebody figures out how to beat them.
They may end up beating themselves, with almost 4 seasons played in the last 3 years.
its being reported Ekblad had “offers” (tampering) in the 10-12aav range…. he took 6 to stay a panther… that’s just nuts…. I’m old enough to remember Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, and Jay Bouwmeester literally quitting on the team and walking out… how did we get here… I feel like when the Heat traded for Shaq lol
VAMOS GATOS!!!
Good for Ekblad but keep him away from the medicine cabinet.