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The Florida Panthers have made another move to keep their roster together for another run at the Stanley Cup. Aaron Ekblad is staying with the Panthers, signing an eight-year $48.8 million contract with the defending champs. The Panthers have now made multiple offseason moves to shore up a chance to make a fourth straight run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers are on a dominant run. They have been to the playoffs now six straight years. In the 2023 playoffs, they were the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, but upset the Boston Bruins in the first round on their way to losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights. Since then, they have won back-to-back Cups, beating the Edmonton Oilers each of the last two seasons.
Still, the Panthers were in a precarious situation going into this offseason, having limited draft capital and limited cap space. They were able to make multiple re-signings regardless of their situation. Beyond bringing back Ekblad, the Panthers have re-signed both Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand.
Ekblad was the first overall pick of the Panthers in the 2014 NHL Draft. He would break into the NHL immediately, playing 81 games in the 2014-15 season. The Canadian blueliner has been a mainstay of the Panthers since then. He has played 732 regular-season games for the Panthers, scoring 118 goals and 262 career assists. He is fifth all-time in points scored as a Panther, while sitting second in games played, trailing just Aleksander Barkov.
The Panthers keep winning
To bring back one of the cornerstones of the franchise will always be a win for a team. Bringing back a cornerstone at the peak of their career at a discount is a major win. To begin with, the contact is very team-friendly. The 29-year-old could have commanded heavy money, potentially over eight million per year. Still, the blue liner took a discount. Last season, he was on a contract that had an AAV of $7.5 million, and now he will be sitting at just $6.1 million AAV, even with the salary cap jumping up.
His salary is slightly more than Nic Hague's and less than Alex Romanov's. Those are both players who are not top two-rotational players, unlike Ekblad. It is not even the highest-paid blueliner on the team. Seth Jones will make $7 million this year. Meanwhile, another top defender in the NHL, Evan Bouchard, will make $10.5 million per year for the next four years.
Still, there are a few differences for both the team and for Ekblad. To begin with, Ekblad has seen his name etched into Lord Stanley's Cup twice already in his career. Staying in Florida allows him to go after a third, or even fourth, time being etched into immortality. While multiple players have won the Cup three times, including active players such as Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Quick, it is still a major honor for Ekblad.
Further, Ekblad has not been consistently in the line-up, unlike Bouchard. He has not played 82 games since the 2018-19 season. The Canadian has missed time due to injury and PED suspension. He has also not been at the same level of offensive production in recent years. He had just 33 points this past season, well down from his peak of 57 points in the 2021-22 season. Regardless, the Panthers got a top-two defender at the price of a third or fourth blueliner. Regardless of the historical significance that Ekblad holds to the franchise, this was a steal.
Final thoughts and grade on Aaron Ekblad's contract
It was clear Ekblad wanted to stay in Florida, via Michael Russo of The Athletic. There is the question of the defender being on the ice. He has missed ten or more games in each of the last five seasons, while missing 20 or more games in four of the last five seasons. This year, it was not an injury, but a suspension that took Ekblad out of the lineup. Regardless, missing time is not something a team can afford when paying a player of this caliber.
Still, Ekblad has been dominant in the last three playoff runs and should continue to do so. Further, he is paired on the top rotation with Gustav Forsling, and both are under contract for the next seven seasons. For the Panthers, they made money in this deal. AFP Analytics suggested a deal (via Harman Dayal and Shayna Goldman of The Athletic) worth $7.8 million per year over seven years as the required value for Ekblad. That means the Panthers saved $5.8 million and got an extra year of their star defender.
For Ekblad, he is financially set in a good situation. He could not have gotten eight years from another team unless a sign and trade was made. There is also the clear tax advantage in Florida for Ekblad, but he could have factored that into his compensation with another team. The big advantage is playing for a stacked roster. The Panthers brought back many of the parts that have made them the champs, and should continue to be a threat in the NHL. Players spend their careers chasing just one chance to lift the Cup. Now, Ekblad took a small discount in order to secure a chance to lift it a third time.
Panthers Grade: A
Ekblad Grade: B+
