Panthers Could Let Ekblad Get To Free Agency This Summer

The Florida Panthers have now gone to the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive seasons with relatively the same team. That could change this offseason with a couple of their key players being free agents, Aaron Ekblad in particular.

Ekblad has been the top right defenseman for many years in Florida, but with the acquisition of Seth Jones, Ekblad's time might be limited. The Panthers brought in Jones as not only a boost this season, but as a backup plan for if Ekblad were to head to free agency.

Ekblad has said that he wants to stay, but at the same time, no player is going to say that he's looking to go elsewhere in the midst of a Cup run or while games are still going on. Greg Wyshynski said that he thinks Ekblad will head to free agency this summer. The problem the Panthers will find with keeping Ekblad is the team is already looking to extend Sam Bennett as well. That would seemingly eat up all of their cap space and the team only has 10 forwards, five defensemen, and one goalie signed. They have a lot of work to do.

Based on this playoff run, Bennett has been great for them. He's always in the mix however you think of him. While Jones can be the first pairing RD, Anton Lundell can be the second line center. One of Bennett and Ekblad is going to be sticking around, it's just a matter of who. It's not looking great on the Ekblad front though.