One of the best free agents, and of the right-hand shot defence variety, appears to be available on the open market for this 2025 off-season free agency period. Welcome to yet another edition of NHL Rumours here at Last Word On Hockey. Today, we bring you the very latest on the Florida Panthers and Aaron Ekblad‘s situation.
Today’s NHL Rumours Discussing Aaron Ekblad’s Future in South Florida
Chris Johnston: It seems more likely than not Aaron Ekblad is moving on from Florida; door not closed but that’s the industry sentiment – Chris Johnston Show
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) June 23, 2025
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Rumour: Chris Johnston is saying that it is more than likely that Aaron Ekblad doesn’t re-sign in Florida.
Analysis: There are a couple of reasons this rumour becomes reality. First of all, Florida has to be up against the salary of cap. Secondly, the Panthers have been successful at replacing certain players. In this case specifically, they may have been planning ahead and done it already in fact. We will explain.
With plenty of star power in South Florida already, there’s not much spare cash to go around. Stars like Aleksander Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky already command big money salaries. Taking on Seth Jones contract at the trade deadline further stretch things tight. According to puckpedia, Florida is currently sitting with $19 million available in cap space. In contrast, there’s some big names on their outstanding free agent list if you go based on the 2025 Stanley Cup champion roster. It does seem like Sam Bennett will claim a good chunk of that available cash. The rest? Likely more of administrative needs to help fill out the roster. For instance, their backup goalie Vitek Vanecek is without contract. Also, one of their depth defencemen, Nate Schmidt is likewise without a deal for 2025-26. In any sense, it just seems like the desire to spend a lot of that cash on Ekblad isn’t there for management.
What Does This Ultimately Mean for the Florida Panthers in 2025-26
As we hinted earlier and perhaps in other of NHL rumours, it is interesting to note Florida’s recent roster management. Over the past few years, general manager Bill Zito and staff has shuffled things around quite a bit. In the process, they created a two-time Cup champion organization. Names like MacKenzie Weegar, Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson were all moved on from their blueline. And yet, still they have found ways to win.
That’s why we say, picking up Seth Jones was foresight from management. His current cost wouldn’t end up being anymore than Ekblad is looking for in free agency. Furthermore, for Ekblad, as a two-time champ, as one of the penultimate, defensive defencemen in the game right now, he’s probably looking at a big payday. There will be some question on term, given his age, at 29 years of age. However, you’d probably be a safe bet to say he is landing somewhere between $7-9 million on the open market. Of course, he may have given Florida a discount, but still. It just seems like between Florida’s lack of desire, and the other team’s around the NHL eying the defenceman so eagerly, it really seems like he is leaving.
Team’s are always looking for big name, right-shot, shutdown defencemen, with mobility. As we know from watching Ekblad, he checks most, if not all, of those boxes. Plenty of teams, like the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens, just as a few examples, could all use a guy like his services. It’s really going to be a question of who has the cap space. Ekblad might just be the top free agent available, behind Mitch Marner, so he might just get something akin to the ol’ blank cheque.
Main Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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