Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Aaron Ekblad

East Notes: Panthers Injuries, Capitals, Carlo

at CDT | by 1 Comment

There was some good news health-wise last night for the Florida Panthers, who are attempting to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Sam Bennett both suffered upper-body injuries during last night’s win against Minnesota. Yet, head coach Paul Maurice said post-game that both players might be good to go for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers.

Even if one or both of Ekblad and Bennett can’t play tomorrow, it’s great news that neither player is expected to be out long-term. Ekblad’s already missed a handful of games due to injury this season, and his 20 points in 37 games is a bit of a step back from his usual pace. Still, he’s one of the best defensemen in the league and is dominant on the power play, one of Florida’s strengths. Bennett is also an essential part of Florida’s secondary scoring, as the 26-year-old is sixth on the team in scoring with 30 points in 48 games and plays nearly 18 minutes per game.

  • Don’t expect the Washington Capitals to follow in the Boston Bruins’ footsteps regarding load management. While it was reported earlier this week that Bruins might consider resting captain Patrice Bergeron at points down the stretch, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir that he does not intend to employ a similar technique with the Capitals roster, which has been prone to injuries for much of the season. El-Bashir suspects that the Capitals’ slim cushion on a playoff spot in a tight Eastern Conference discourages Laviolette from resting any stars, something the Bruins and their world-shattering pace don’t have to worry about.
  • Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub and NBC Sports Boston reports that Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo will play tonight when they host the San Jose Sharks. Carlo sustained a lower-body injury in a January 19 game against the Rangers but will not miss any further action. One of the league’s best pure defensive defensemen, Carlo has a goal and seven assists in 41 games this season, along with a career-high +23 rating.

Injury Updates: Ekblad, Bennett, Slavin, Foligno

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Just as the Florida Panthers have begun to make a real push to climb the Eastern Conference standings, the team has been hit with a rash of major injuries. The team is down to an Alex Lyon–Mack Guzda tandem in net, and now it seems they could be without their top defenseman. The Panthers have announced that 2014 first-overall pick Aaron Ekblad and 2014 fourth-overall pick Sam Bennett each suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Per the team, Eklbad is doubtful to return, while Bennett has been ruled out. Ekblad is no stranger to injury troubles, as he has missed chunks of time in each of the past two seasons. Ekblad hasn’t escaped the Panthers’ team-wide regression from their President’s Trophy-winning form of last season, but he still has scored 20 points in 36 games and averages 24 minutes a night. While the emergence of Brandon Montour might help the team weather any extended Ekblad absence, this news is still unwelcome for a club desperate to gain ground on other contenders.

Some other injury notes from tonight’s games:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin has suffered a lower-body injury, and will miss tonight’s game against the New York Islanders. With Slavin out, the Hurricanes will be missing one of the NHL’s best defensive defensemen. Offseason trade acquisition Dylan Coghlan has moved into the lineup in Slavin’s place, and will have a chance to put some quality play forward in the absence of Carolina’s top blueliner.
  • The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Marcus Foligno will miss tonight’s game against the Panthers due to a non-COVID illness. While this is unlikely to keep him out of the lineup for any extended period, it does come as another piece of bad news in a difficult season for Foligno. The 31-year-old forward scored 23 goals last season and has seen much of that offense dry up this year, as he’s scoring at just a nine-goal 82-game pace.

Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad To Return For Florida Panthers

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Montreal Canadiens are the unlucky team that will see the return of several key players for the Florida Panthers tonight. Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, and Radko Gudas have all been cleared to return. It will also be the NHL debut of Anton Levtchi, who came over from the Finnish professional leagues this season.

Montreal not only has to play a much more healthy group but is also on the second half of a back-to-back after losing 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. After an encouraging start, the Canadiens are now 3-6-1 in their last ten and have fallen to last place in the Atlantic Division.

Florida, meanwhile, is only one point ahead of them in the standings, and are on their own three-game losing streak. The 2022 Presidents’ Trophy winners have struggled to produce consistent offense and rank near the bottom of the league in goals against. Sergei Bobrovsky, who will start tonight, is in another one of his bad years, posting a career-low .895 save percentage through 21 appearances.

Ekblad has played just 24 games so far and has been outscored 32-21 when on the ice at even strength. The 26-year-old has been in and out of the lineup with injuries. something that has become a trend in his career.

Barkov, usually considered the team’s most important player, has just 25 appearances on the year, and hasn’t played since exiting a game on December 17 early. The big center has 22 points but just six of those are goals, after scoring a career-high 39 last season (in just 67 games).

Levtchi, 27, signed a one-year, entry-level contract in June to give North American hockey a go, and has scored 13 points in 24 games for the Charlotte Checkers so far. The undrafted forward has developed into a superstar in Finland, scoring 61 points in 55 games last season with Tappara Tampere.

Panthers Notes: Barkov, Gudas, Ekblad, Kiersted, Levtchi

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Panthers could have a pair of regulars back in the lineup on Thursday against Montreal as George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports that center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Radko Gudas could be back for that contest.  Barkov has missed time due to illness twice this season which is a big loss for Florida as he’s their all-situations top middleman that once again is averaging close to a point per game.  Gudas, meanwhile, was injured early this month against Seattle, suffering a concussion.  The veteran has six points and 95 hits in 25 games so far this season.

However, it’s not all good news on the injury front for Florida as Richards adds that blueliner Aaron Ekblad might not be able to play against Montreal.  He suffered an upper-body injury on Friday and his absence would be a big blow as he’s logging over 24 minutes a night for the third straight season.  To that end, Richards tweets that blueliner Matt Kiersted has been recalled from the minors after being sent down over the weekend.  The 24-year-old has four points in 20 games with the Panthers this season.

Meanwhile, the team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled forward Anton Levtchi from AHL Charlotte.  The 27-year-old signed a one-year deal with Florida back in June after leading the SM-liiga in scoring last season with 61 points in 55 games with Tappara.  So far this season with the Checkers, Levtchi has seven goals and six assists in 24 contests.  Florida returned Givani Smith and Grigori Denisenko to the minors over the weekend and it appears they’ll stay in the minors for now with Levtchi getting his first NHL look instead.

Rudolfs Balcers To Be Placed On Waivers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Florida Panthers moved several players to the minor leagues yesterday to prepare for the return of Aaron Ekblad but they still needed a little bit more cap space to get their star defenseman off long-term injured reserve. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Kate Engleson of Bally Sports that it will be Rudolfs Balcers hitting waivers today to make room.

Balcers, 25, got off to a quick start with the Panthers this year but has seen his ice time limited in recent weeks and has just one point in his last nine games. The Latvian forward cleared waivers just a few months ago with the San Jose Sharks and is on a one-year, one-way contract worth $750K.

Interestingly, as CapFriendly points out, while waiving Balcers with the intention of assigning him to the minor leagues will clear enough cap space for Ekblad – it only just makes it. The team would be at the minimum of 18 skaters on the roster and would have no room to call up anyone else. That can result in some very tricky situations if players suffer injuries that do not require injured reserve. In that case, the Panthers would need to make some additional moves or play shorthanded.

Staying pressed right up against the cap ceiling could have some serious financial ramifications for the Panthers in other ways, too. Both Anton Lundell and Spencer Knight have significant performance bonuses in their entry-level contracts that would be carried over to next season if the team does not have the cap space to fit them in this year. The pair could earn as much as $2.7MM combined, though they would have to hit specific metrics for that to happen. The team is currently dealing with an overage of $637.5K from this mechanism last season.

So while activating Ekblad is certainly going to help the team on the ice, the cap situation in Florida continues to be a difficult puzzle to navigate for general manager Bill Zito.

Florida Panthers Send Three Players To AHL

at CDT | by 1 Comment

As they prepare their cap for the impending return of Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers have sent three players to the minor leagues. Lucas Carlsson, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Matt Kiersted have all been sent to the Charlotte Checkers.

Ekblad was injured in the middle of October and has played just three games this season. He is eligible to return on Saturday after missing the requisite LTIR time, and head coach Paul Maurice is expecting him in the lineup.

Patric Hornqvist is also expected back in the coming days, though he was never placed on injured reserve in the first place. To make room for Ekblad, the team still needs to clear a bit more salary, likely meaning someone else will be going down when he’s activated. For now, the team has to keep at least 20 players on the roster.

It’s huge news for the Panthers, especially given how strong Ekblad was last season. The veteran defenseman set a new career high with 57 points in 61 games and finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting. Florida has been okay without him but still sit at 8-5-1 on the year, not exactly the start they wanted after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22.

Ekblad’s return will go a long way to getting them back to being an elite team in the league, even if it does cost them some NHL depth to fit his salary in.

Snapshots: Ekblad, Broberg, Janmark, Dach

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

At the time that the Panthers placed Aaron Ekblad on LTIR, there was no timetable for his return beyond that it was expected that he’d be back this season.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported that the blueliner is likely to miss somewhere between four and seven weeks.  At a minimum, he has to miss 10 games and 24 days and if he’s ready to be back at the shorter end of that timeline, Ekblad might not miss much more than the minimum time.  Florida isn’t expected to go out and acquire a short-term replacement as they’ll need to have enough cap space to activate Ekblad when he’s ready to return but fortunately for them, they shouldn’t be without their star blueliner for too long.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • At the beginning of the season, the Oilers were shuffling defenseman Philip Broberg back and forth between Edmonton and AHL Bakersfield. They haven’t lately and Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) why as the blueliner has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last few days and is questionable to play this weekend.  Accordingly, it’ll take a little longer before he gets his next chance with the big club.  Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman adds that the reason that veteran winger Mattias Janmark hasn’t played in Bakersfield yet despite being sent down nearly two weeks ago is that he has yet to receive his U.S. work permit.
  • Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach has been placed in concussion protocol, notes Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). It’s the second time in a month that he has been moved there after entering protocol in mid-September.  The 19-year-old had gotten off to a good start with WHL Kelowna with three points in as many games but now, it’s likely he’ll be shut down for a little while.  Dach has already signed his entry-level deal with Chicago and will likely turn pro next season.

Florida Panthers Move Ekblad To LTIR; Recall Two Defensemen

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Florida Panthers are hurting, with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour both leaving the game a few days ago. While Montour is back at morning skate today, he won’t play tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. In their place, Lucas Carlsson and Matt Kiersted have both been brought up from the AHL, with the latter only activated from season-opening injured reserve yesterday.

Interestingly enough, Eric Staal is also out with the main group, according to team reporter Jameson Olive, as he continues to skate on a PTO.

Ekblad has been moved to long-term injured reserve, a necessity given how little cap space the team had been dealing with. His timeline is still undetermined.

It is an unfortunate result for the Panthers’ top defenseman, who is coming off the best season of his career. Ekblad was sixth in Norris Trophy voting in 2021-22 after scoring 15 goals and 57 points in 61 games. That games played number is the important one here though, as it’s now been a few years since he was able to put together a full healthy season.

Going on LTIR means missing at least ten games or 24 days – not ideal as the team tries to find its new identity without Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. In his first two games, Ekblad had averaged nearly 25 minutes a night and was likely set to see that much action for the entire season. Without him in the lineup, the team will have to find another way to fill up that ice time.

East Notes: Backstrom, Panthers, Johansson, Nedeljkovic

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom missed the first two months of the season with a hip injury and while he played the rest of the way, he wasn’t fully healthy.  Speaking to reporters at today’s end-of-season press conference, the veteran told reporters, including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, that his injured hip will never fully recover while GM Brian MacLellan indicated that Backstrom continuing to play through the injury in its current form will not be sustainable moving forward.  As a result, MacLellan indicated that the 34-year-old will be exploring his options.  The uncertainty surrounding Backstrom’s availability will make Washington’s offseason planning that much more difficult as a result.

Other news from the Eastern Conference:

  • Panthers winger Mason Marchment is unlikely to be available for the start of their series-opener against Tampa Bay, relays David Wilson of the Miami Herald. The 26-year-old had a career year as a secondary scorer, notching 18 goals and 29 assists in just 54 games while also averaging two hits per game which made him a key part of Florida’s bottom six.  He missed the last two games with an unspecified injury and there’s no word on how much longer he might be out.  Meanwhile, interim head coach Andrew Brunette indicated that defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Ben Chiarot will be ready to start the season after being banged up in the final game of the Washington series.
  • After playing on loan in the SHL this season, Red Wings prospect Albert Johansson confirmed to Expressen in Sweden that he will play in North America next season. The 21-year-old defenseman had 25 points in 52 games this season with Farjestad while chipping in with eight points in 19 playoff contests as he won the SHL title.  Johansson also indicated that he won’t ask to be loaned back home if he doesn’t crack Detroit’s roster after training camp in the fall.
  • Still with Detroit, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is out for the remainder of the World Championship due to an injury, reports ESPN’s Kevin Weekes (Twitter link). He was named to the team earlier this month but had yet to be registered by Team USA, a decision that certainly was the right one now.  As he wasn’t officially registered to the team, they will be able to find a replacement.  Devils goalie Jon Gillies and Sharks prospect Strauss Mann are the other netminders on the roster so far.

Aaron Ekblad To Return For Florida Panthers

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Florida Panthers kick off their first-round series against the Washington Capitals this evening, and it’s nothing but good news at the morning skate. Head coach Andrew Brunette confirmed to reporters including Katie Gaus of BALLY Sports that Aaron Ekblad will make his long-awaited return to the lineup tonight. Mason Marchment will also be in the lineup after missing the last game of the regular season.

Ekblad, 26, may very well have been in the conversation for the Norris Trophy had he played the entire season. The 2014 first-overall pick put together the best offensive year of his career, scoring 15 goals and 57 points in just 61 games. Those numbers came in nearly 25 minutes a night, as he looked completely recovered from the head and neck injuries that had really hampered his career in years past.

Unfortunately, on his first shift of a game against the Anaheim Ducks in mid-March, Ekblad collided with teammate Aleksander Barkov and was forced to leave with a lower-body injury. He did not return, meaning his chase of 20 goals and a point-per-game season will have to wait.

Now, after more than a month on the shelf, he’ll return just in time for the Panthers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top