Aaron Ekblad officially lands on the trading block; Leafs linked
Photo credit: Jason Mowry - USA Today Sports
The Florida Panthers are reportedly shopping Aaron Ekblad and one insider has already linked him to the Maple Leafs.
The Panthers avoided complete disaster by clinching Game 7 on home ice to deliver the franchise their first ever Stanley Cup. What would've made things even worse would have been not only blowing a 3-0 lead but then having to turn things around to off-season mode with Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, and Anton Lundell among so many others needing new contracts.
As we enter the eve of the NHL Draft, rumours are abound from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period that defenseman Aaron Ekblad is on the block and being shopped by the Panthers.
"According to multiple well-placed sources, the Panthers are shopping 2014 first-overall pick Aaron Ekblad, who is entering the final year of his contract, and have already had discussions with some teams about his availability."
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The Panthers have around $19.5 million in projected cap but have 11 pending unrestricted free agents and 2 pending restricted free agents. Apart from the aforementioned trio they also have Nick Cousins, Kevin Stenlund, Vladimir Tarasenko, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov, and Anthony Stolarz as some of the more prominent names on expiring contracts.
The Panthers want to bring Reinhart and Montour back into the fold and they should take up the majority of the $19.5 million dollar cap space, not to mention Lundell who has turned into a 2-way force.
The 28-year-old Ekblad has just one-year remaining on his deal with a modified no-trade clause at a cap hit of $7.5 million. Drafted first overall all the way back in 2014, the Windsor, Ontario native has 676 games under his belt with 115 goals and 347 points across 10 seasons. He has dealt with his fair share of injuries as he's missed 110 games over the last 4 seasons.
However, if and when he's healthy, he has been a workhorse for the Panthers with a 22:50 ATOI for his career, 729 blocked shots to his 749 hits, and 64 post-season games under his belt. Ekblad could fill a major role for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who not only are looking for a top-pair defenseman but are listed as a team of interest.
Ekblad also recently changed agents from Dave Gagner at Wasserman Hockey to Craig Oster at Newport Sports and that's generally a good indication that a move could be on the horizon. Pagnotta mentions that Ekblad would much prefer to remain in South Florida and that he would even be willing to take a hometown discount on an extension but with money being extremely tight and players like Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett needing new contracts the following year, someone has to bite the dust.
Pagnotta isn't entirely sure what the Panthers will be looking for in return but you'd have to imagine they would want younger and cheaper options to maintain their Stanley Cup window while allowing them to sign their core pieces. Only time will tell but Nashville, Toronto, and Utah have been pegged as the teams with the most prominent amount of interest and with the draft kicking off tomorrow and the free agent window opening on Monday, it could happen sooner rather than later.
"Several teams are looking to acquire a top-pair defenceman, especially one with a right shot, most prominent being the Utah Hockey Club, Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators."
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