32 Teams, 32 Players: Aaron Ekblad

He is part of one of the NHL's best defense pairings and an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Now that the 2024-25 NHL season has arrived we are going to highlight one player on each team that stands out for the season. What kind of player? Well, a player that could make a difference, be an X-factor, be on the verge of a breakout, or just simply be a player under the microscope and needing to have a big season.

Basically — which player do I think is the most fascinating on each team.

We are not going in any particularly order and continue today with Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers.

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The most interesting thing about the current Florida Panthers roster and their success is that almost nobody on the team was actually drafted by the team. It is primarily a roster of free agents and trades, with only a handful of homegrown players on the team.

The important thing is that of those homegrown players, two of them were top-three picks in their respective draft classes (captain Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Aaron Ekblad) and they both turned out to be core players.

Today we are going to focus on Ekblad for two primary reasons. The first is that he is part of one of the top defensive pairings in the NHL, and the second is that he is in the final year of his contract with the team and one of the players the Panthers will have to make a huge decision on in the very near future.

Can it be done?

Should it bone?

The Panthers entered the 2023-24 season with three key players entering the final year of their deal, with Ekblad joining forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett.

Verhaeghe already signed a new long-term extension that will pay him $7 million per season over the next eight years (after this season).

Bennett has already completely transformed his game in Florida and really started to become the player the Flames hoped he would be when they drafted him in the top-five. While he will probably not match Verhaeghe’s number, he has certainly started to play his way toward a big contract extension.

That leaves Ekblad, who is making $7.25 million this season, and what the Panthers want to do with him.

Let’s talk about it.