It’s no secret that Aaron Ekblad wants to remain with the Florida Panthers.
The former first overall pick has spent his entire NHL career with the team that drafted him.
Now he’s helped Florida win back-to-back Stanley Cups after reaching the championship series in three straight seasons.
If there was ever a great time to be a member of the Panthers, this is it.
“It's an elite program, it's the best organization in the league,” Ekblad said during Florida’s exit meetings. “We do everything the best, and we're still on an upward trajectory after winning two Stanley Cups in a row and (appearing in) three Stanley Cup Finals in a row, so it's incredible. I'm so proud of that, because I've been here for it.”
When July 1 arrives, Ekblad will be an unrestricted free agent.
He’s not the only Panthers player considered integral to the team’s success who will be hitting the open market.
Forwards Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand are also UFAs.
Now, it’s certainly worth noting that all three have made it very clear that they would like to remain with the Panthers.
But if all three decide they want to cash in with the highest contract this summer, odds are they won’t be getting that kind of money from Florida.
Over the past several years, Panthers General Manager Bill Zito has been able to sign several of the team’s key players – Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling are just some – to team friendly term deals that allow more financial flexibility for signing additional players that keep the team's depth as such a strength.
It’s arguable that each of those aforementioned players could have gotten more money by signing elsewhere.
The same would likely be true for Ekblad, if he chooses to test the open market, but the question will ultimately be whether he is willing to take less dollars to stay where he wants to be, or cash in on what could be the 29-year-old’s last big contract.
“It’s part of who I am at this point,” Ekblad said of being a member of the Panthers. “I've spent 11 years here, and that's more than I've spent in any home or city in my life, so it's home, and I expect it to be home.”
How that plays out for Ekblad and the Panthers remains to be seen, but it shouldn’t be too long until we find out how everything plays out.
Discussions between the two sides are ongoing.
One thing is certain at this point, and that’s how happy Ekblad will be if he ends up staying with Florida.
Is that happiness worth more than the almighty dollar? We shall see.
“Conversations have been had, you know, obviously nothing material yet, but they'll be working on it,” he said. “Things like to seem to come down to the last minute here.”
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Photo caption: May 20, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) celebrates scoring against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)
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