NHL Free Agency: Potential Landing Spots for Aaron Ekblad

The NHL will open up its market to free agency on Tuesday at noon, and the Florida Panthers still have some pressing business to get to — especially when it comes to defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

Ekblad is the second-longest tenured member of the Panthers after being the No. 1 pick of the 2014 NHL Draft just a year after Dale Tallon took Sasha Barkov second in 2013.

A two-time All-Star and only the second player in franchise history to be named Rookie of the Year, Ekblad owns the team record book for defensemen as the career-leader in games played (732), goals (118), assists (262), points (380), and power-play goals (41).

Oh yeah, he is also a two-time Stanley Cup champion.

That’s on the ice.

Off the ice, Ekblad is one of the heart-and-soul guys on the team, a ringleader of sorts whom the Panthers rally around.

He is extremely important to the franchise.

But, as of Sunday night, he and the Panthers remain at an impasse when it comes to a new contract.

Ekblad just finished an eight-year deal that paid him an average of $7.5 million, a contract signed in 2016 after just two seasons in the league.

By all accounts, he will likely get a raise on that contract if he were to test the market come Tuesday.

Images of Aaron Ekblad, right, and Sasha Barkov have welcomed fans to Florida’s Sunrise arena for years. // Photo @GeorgeRichards

The likelihood of Ekblad getting a raise with the Panthers is not likely.

Gus Forsling signing an eight-year deal worth $5.75 million annually last season did not help things; Florida paying $7 million of Seth Jones’ $9.5 million contract with Chicago picking up an NHL-record $13.125 million retention comes into play as well.

Still, finding a top-pairing, right-handed defenseman with the kind of skillset Ekblad has will not be easy to replace, something the Panthers are well aware of.

Yet.

The Panthers, with $11 million under the salary cap per PuckPedia, just do not have the space to give Ekblad what he would command elsewhere.

But that’s an old chestnut.

Florida players have been acceptable to taking less to remain with the Panthers — the question here is, how much less?

We do not know what Ekblad is asking for, nor do we know what the Panthers are countering with. Brad Marchand is also angling to stay.

So, where could Aaron Ekblad be plying his trade this coming season.

We look at some potential landing spots below.