Panthers Pulse: Aaron Ekblad Delivered With a Cup and Has Chance to Do More in 2024-25
Aaron Ekblad delivered on his potential as the No. 1 pick in the 2014 Draft with a Stanley Cup, and he now has the opportunity to re-enter the 'star' conversation in 2024-25.
Photo by Colby Guy
Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. Aaron Ekblad is next.
2023-24 Stats: four goals, 18 points, 51 GP (Playoffs: one goal, six points, 24 GP)
After beginning his 2023-24 season due to lingering injuries from the previous season’s playoff run, Aaron Ekblad helped anchor the shutdown pairing of a Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers team.
It took a shift in mentality which started before 2023’s run to the Stanley Cup Final to make that happen.
Prior to the 2022-23 season, Ekblad was one of the most potent offensive defensemen in the NHL — ranking ninth among blueliners in points-per-game, totaling 120 in 163 games (0.73) between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
During Paul Maurice’s first season as head coach, Ekblad bought into a more defensive mentality — and it worked to the tune of helping the Panthers to two consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances and a Cup victory in 2024.
And even still, Ekblad’s 56 points in 122 games (0.46) since that shift in play style he’s had under Maurice is still tied for the 46th-best points-per-game among NHL blueliners in that span. His 18 goals are 36th in the NHL despite missing 42 games in that span.
Ekblad still has a lot of offensive talent, and the Panthers might need more of it from him this year.
Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are both gone and the Panthers will need someone new to emerge to run their top power play unit. And perhaps Ekblad is the incumbent favorite to do so.
After all, it was something he was very familiar with doing before Montour’s emergence during the 2022-23 season.
Ekblad’s eight power play goals in the three-season span leading up to the 2022-23 season are tied for eighth among NHL defensemen. His 36 power play points rank just outside of the Top 20 in that same span.
The Panthers still used Ekblad on the power play this past season — he shared PP1 duties with Montour for a large chunk of 2022-23 before shifting to a role on PP2 this past season — and scored nine power play goals and 23 power play points in that same span. He scored eight of those goals and 19 of those points while still holding down a role on PP1 in 2022-23.
Forsling or Adam Boqvist could very well challenge him for the role, but he is more than capable of handling it.
Up Next in Panthers Pulse: Dmitry Kulikov
Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell, Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Aleksander Barkov, Adam Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt, Tobias Bjornfot, Mackie Samoskevich, Jonah Gadjovich, Carter Verhaeghe, Tomas Nosek