The defender of Florida Panthers, Aaron Ekblad, will not strike the free market.
Panthers and their leading defender agreed with an eight -year extension with an average annual value of $ 6.1 million, sources said on Monday, confirming reports. The extension will prevent Ekblad from becoming a free agent without restriction. TSN was the first to report news from the agreement.
The 29 -year -old Bluelier was one of the most coveted players available when the NHL free agency opened on Tuesday and potentially left millions of dollars per season on the table to stick to Florida.
Ekblad had a good reason not to explore his options. The Panthers have just won their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship after having made a third consecutive trip to the final. The managing director Bill Zito also granted priority to the team care, signing Sam Bennett – the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of NHL qualifiers – an extension of $ 64 million of eight years earlier this month.
Florida initially written EKBLAD n ° 1 in the NHL 2014 NHL recovery. Since then, it has contributed to their blue line, amassing 118 goals and 380 points in 732 career games. The last two regular seasons of EKBLAD have shown a slowdown in production – it has only managed seven goals and 51 points in 107 games – but it carries more than 23 minutes per match and is a presence on the power game and the penalty.
Ekblad’s availability was also assigned during the 2024-25 season by a suspension of 20 games for violation of the NHL / NHLPA performance-improving substances that continued the playoffs.
The playoffs were the place where Ekblad started to shine as the first contributor, recording four goals and 13 points in 19 games while Florida beat Edmonton for a second consecutive season in the final.
Now that Zito has committed to Ekblad and Bennett, there is a question of whether the other free agent waiting for the club – the striker Brad Marchand – will also remain. Marchand was acquired by Florida before the deadline for the March exchanges and was an integral part of their success in the playoffs, collecting 10 goals and 20 points in 23 games.
Panthers are currently $ 4.9 million in the ceiling space available for the coming season, according to Puckpedia.
