SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aaron Ekblad paused for a moment and surveyed the scene playing out in front of him on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
All over the rink his Florida Panthers teammates, staff, family and friends celebrated the franchise’s second straight Stanley Cup title after a 5-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
It was a moment you would never want to end, and that’s how the pending unrestricted free agent felt when asked about his future with the team.
“I mean obviously, I don't know what's going to happen and I’m not much in control of that at the moment,” Ekblad said. “To live in the moment right now is the most important [thing] for me, and when the time comes, I'm sure those tough conversations will be had.”
Ekblad is the second-longest tenured Panthers player behind captain Aleksander Barkov. Selected by Florida with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, the 29-year-old is second in games played in Florida history with 732 behind Barkov (804). He’s first among all Panthers defensemen in goals (118), assists (262) and points (380).
This season, he had 33 points (three goals, 30 assists) in 56 regular-season games and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 postseason games. He was suspended 20 games on March 10 for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, a ban that carried over to the first two games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
When asked if he thought Game 6 of the Cup Final was the last game he would play for the Panthers, he said, “I sure hope not.”
He then talked about what the organization means to him.
“It's a special team, a special organization, from top to bottom, everybody just does the work every day,” Ekblad said. “So it's a special team with special players that'll do anything. Maybe however many years down the road, you'll realize you know what guys went through.”
Through his first five seasons with Florida, the Panthers made the playoffs once, losing in six games to the New York Islanders in the first round in 2016. After losing to the Islanders again in the qualifying round in 2020, the Panthers have qualified for the postseason in each of the past five seasons, reaching the Cup Final three straight times and winning it two years in a row.
“I might regret it later, but it almost feels normal, like it's where we're meant to be,” Ekblad said. “And we believe that, as a team, that we're meant to be here, and we're going to keep doing it.”
It won’t be easy to keep this team together. In addition to Ekblad, forward Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP, and forward Brad Marchand are two of the high-profile pending free agents for Florida.
“I hope all of our guys stay,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “We have such a tight bond. But that’s the thing: Every year you lose friends and teammates and it [stinks]. For ‘Ecky’ and [Sam Bennett], a bunch of our guys are free agents. And I hope they stay.’’
Gustav Forsling, who is Ekblad’s defense partner, would not even consider the thought of him playing elsewhere next season.
“No. He’s going to be a Panther for life,” Forsling said. “I really hope so, and I believe so. I love playing with him.’’
And Ekblad loves playing with the Panthers.
“It's a tight-knit group,” he said. “This organization does everything for the players. And it's a special place to be, a special franchise, and I don't think there's a better one in the League.”
NHL.com independent correspondent George Richards contributed to this report
