Aaron Ekblad discussion thread

[batting1k]

Didn’t see a thread for this already so decided to create one since there’s been a lot of discussion about Ekblad lately. Mods feel free to close this if it’s not appropriate.

Aaron Ekblad:
- Turns 27 years old in February
- 14 points in 27 games (8 on PP)
- Team-worst -15 rating
- 23:51 ATOI
- 2 separate injuries this year (groin and shoulder)
- Mid way through the 6th year of an 8 year contract, with a No-Move Clause (cannot be traded, sent to the minors, or placed on waivers without Ekblad waiving the clause)
- $7.5 mil cap hit
- Arugably one of the worst skating defensemen in the league

Aaron Ekblad - Summary - Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

I think it’s highly unlikely he would waive his NMC to leave south Florida, as I think would be the case with most players, but even beyond that I don’t think Zito would seriously consider moving him (although we know what happened with Huberdeau).

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[FinlandPanther]

Didn’t see a thread for this already so decided to create one since there’s been a lot of discussion about Ekblad lately. Mods feel free to close this if it’s not appropriate.

Aaron Ekblad:
- Turns 27 years old in February
- 14 points in 27 games (8 on PP)
- Team-worst -15 rating
- 23:51 ATOI
- 2 separate injuries this year (groin and shoulder)
- Mid way through the 6th year of an 8 year contract, with a No-Move Clause (cannot be traded, sent to the minors, or placed on waivers without Ekblad waiving the clause)
- $7.5 mil cap hit
- Arugably one of the worst skating defensemen in the league

Aaron Ekblad - Summary - Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

I think it’s highly unlikely he would waive his NMC to leave south Florida, as I think would be the case with most players, but even beyond that I don’t think Zito would seriously consider moving him (although we know what happened with Huberdeau).

Honestly he’s been up and down for me his whole career. But we got to get rid of him ASAP. No way we renew that contract.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

Honestly he’s been up and down for me his whole career. But we got to get rid of him ASAP. No way we renew that contract.

Trade him while the rest of the league still thinks he's a good player.

Right now there isn't a taint to his name but if he keeps stinking it up without even putting up nice offensive numbers he will be hard to move.

 

[FinlandPanther]

Trade him while the rest of the league still thinks he's a good player.

Right now there isn't a taint to his name but if he keeps stinking it up without even putting up nice offensive numbers he will be hard to move.

Agreed. There’s always teams that love first overall guys with that pedigree. We can recoup some nice assets when he does eventually get traded. Not too worried about it.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Say we move from Ekblad, who takes his minutes?

The FA class for D is getting thinner and thinner and we don't have A+ trading assets to make a huge move.

What are we going to do, trade Ekblad for Karlsson?

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Didn’t see a thread for this already so decided to create one since there’s been a lot of discussion about Ekblad lately. Mods feel free to close this if it’s not appropriate.

Aaron Ekblad:
- Turns 27 years old in February
- 14 points in 27 games (8 on PP)
- Team-worst -15 rating
- 23:51 ATOI
- 2 separate injuries this year (groin and shoulder)
- Mid way through the 6th year of an 8 year contract, with a No-Move Clause (cannot be traded, sent to the minors, or placed on waivers without Ekblad waiving the clause)
- $7.5 mil cap hit
- Arugably one of the worst skating defensemen in the league

Aaron Ekblad - Summary - Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

I think it’s highly unlikely he would waive his NMC to leave south Florida, as I think would be the case with most players, but even beyond that I don’t think Zito would seriously consider moving him (although we know what happened with Huberdeau).

iirc I was the first one to mention that Ekblad is going to be a problem and I received a lot of flak for suggesting that we have to trade him like, as it was with Huberdeau. His injuries have taken a toll and I never gotten the impression that Ekblad really wanted to become a solid #1 dman for the Panthers because he never made significant improvements to his skating. Gotta hand it to Campbell for making him look a such promising dman at a young age.

The Cats will be a better team without him just based on the fact that he has chosen to feel sorry for himself about the Huby&Weegar-trade. imo it's a foregone conclusion for Zito that the Panthers have to trade him while he still has plenty of value. imo the biggest problem is that Zito probably has to accept a bunch of mid-tier assets (prospects/picks) for Ekblad instead of getting a prominent roster player in return. Zito doesn't have a lot of breathing room and therefore Ekblad/Reinhart/Bobrovsky-deals have to be wins for this organization.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Dallas seems like a fit no?
Gives them 2 full seasons to chase a Cup now.
They're trending upwards offensively up front but outside Heiskanen (29 pts), the other D core struggles to produce offense as Lindell and Lundkvist are tied for 2nd with just 11 pts.

Ekblads deal ends a year before Benn's does, along with Pavelski's deal done same year Ekblad does if they feel they can re-sign him with bonus incentives and some extra tax free money in Dallas.

Really thought he'd be here for majority of his career but his skating will always hold him back. Montour may be able to supply most of his offensive going forward and likely stays in Florida on a deal that's 2 years shorter and $2 million cheaper.

I think he'd waive for Dallas, it's a team that seems poised to be good for next 5-6 years.

I'd ask for 2023 1st + Harley OR Bichsel + Miller (cap coming back and Gudas replacement) for Ekblad.

 

[Panthers Propaganda]

Jesus, one down year and we implode on the guy?

I’m willing to let him go at it another year, there’s not many others out there I could see us getting, Chychrun maybe but he is a bigger bandaid than Ekblad.

I’d like to see if he turns it around under a different coach, look at Morissey after Maurice left, he had an awful year last year.
There’s 0 chance he has fallen off a cliff this hard.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Jesus, one down year and we implode on the guy?

I’m willing to let him go at it another year, there’s not many others out there I could see us getting, Chychrun maybe but he is a bigger bandaid than Ekblad.

I’d like to see if he turns it around under a different coach, look at Morissey after Maurice left, he had an awful year last year.
There’s 0 chance he has fallen off a cliff this hard.

Do you think this team is a contender next year, even if Zito can revamp the defense?
If not, you have to really worry what Ekblad will command on his next deal?
And possibly recoup as much value as you can for him with 2 years left and still in his prime.

The new window feels like it's 2 years away when Lundell, Knight, Luostarinen etc hit their stride and become key contributors.

I think Forsling + Montour would likely combine for around $11-12 mil on their next deals and Ekblad alone will want $9 mil or more.

And I've been a staunch Ekblad supporter as he's been one of my faves (even with his warts) since draft day.

 

[I am not exposed]

Jesus, one down year and we implode on the guy?

I’m willing to let him go at it another year, there’s not many others out there I could see us getting, Chychrun maybe but he is a bigger bandaid than Ekblad.

I’d like to see if he turns it around under a different coach, look at Morissey after Maurice left, he had an awful year last year.
There’s 0 chance he has fallen off a cliff this hard.

Me and JLD have been talking about this for a while. Before the season started.

 

[pantherbot]

I'm leaning toward trading him to complete the core refresh. Main reason I've been hesitant about this is because we're so thin on defense that I was keeping the hope that he can still be a solid contributor, but I'm not sure that'll be the case.

A guy like Karlsson who's finally healthy is having a strong year in his 30's, but his peak at one point was near generational, whereas Ekblad wasn't at that level and his minuses may be harder and harder to overcome as he ages.

Potentially, if we're aiming to be competitive again in a year or two, we could still have a solid 1-2 down the middle with Barkov/Lundell, Tkachuk as a top winger, and maybe Knight as a solid goalie option. We'd have to have a strong defense by committee and hope some of our prospects work out.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

I'm leaning toward trading him to complete the core refresh. Main reason I've been hesitant about this is because we're so thin on defense that I was keeping the hope that he can still be a solid contributor, but I'm not sure that'll be the case.

A guy like Karlsson who's finally healthy is having a strong year in his 30's, but his peak at one point was near generational, whereas Ekblad wasn't at that level and his minuses may be harder and harder to overcome as he ages.

Potentially, if we're aiming to be competitive again in a year or two, we could still have a solid 1-2 down the middle with Barkov/Lundell, Tkachuk as a top winger, and maybe Knight as a solid goalie option. We'd have to have a strong defense by committee and hope some of our prospects work out.

Tkachuk, Luostarinen, Barkov, Verheaghe, Lundell, Samoskevich and possibly Denisenko make up most of the offense up front if latter two keep developing.

Forsling, Montour and free agent signing or top 4 D (who can be re-signed) for Reinhart fills 3 of 7 holes on defense.

We've neglected defense prospects in the 1st or 2nd round for too long. We could really use a recently drafted prospect in 1st round who can grow with the younger core and be cheap for a couple years.

I'm confident Knight will be a goalie capable of 50ish games, he plays better with a big workload and needs to play more difficult opponents consistently next year.
Only question is if he becomes a top 10 goalie or top 20ish.

 

[KW]

Me and JLD have been talking about this for a while. Before the season started.

True but I’d add that there have been other people here in agreement regarding Ekblad. Already some years ago, and many were also unhappy with his contract.

And before anyone talks about how unlucky Ek has been with his injuries, the leg injuries would/could have been avoided if he’d taken the off-seasons to become a better skater. He’s way too heavy and slow on skates… probably because he’s a naturally gifted athlete and hockey player but who’s lazy as hell and just wants everything easy.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

We've neglected defense prospects in the 1st or 2nd round for too long. We could really use a recently drafted prospect in 1st round who can grow with the younger core and be cheap for a couple years.

When you look at the Panthers' track record it's quite obvious that the Panthers can't develop their prospects so in the end it doesn't really matter. Their draftees have to be immediate impact players or otherwise their chances of making it from the Panthers meatgrinder are essentially non-existent. In a way I understand why Zito doesn't put much value on guys like Tippett, Schwindt and Smilanic. The Panthers' approach to asset management under Tallon and Zito has been at best questionable.

My understanding is that most (succesful) teams are frugal about their asset mgmt because they wish to minimize the things they have to worry about. For an instance, letting Marchment walk creates another needless problem which in turn leads me to believe that Zito is unable to be patient and unwilling to accept small victories.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

When you look at the Panthers' track record it's quite obvious that the Panthers can't develop their prospects so in the end it doesn't really matter. Their draftees have to be immediate impact players or otherwise their chances of making it from the Panthers meatgrinder are essentially non-existent. In a way I understand why Zito doesn't put much value on guys like Tippett, Schwindt and Smilanic. The Panthers' approach to asset management under Tallon and Zito has been at best questionable.

My understanding is that most (succesful) teams are frugal about their asset mgmt because they wish to minimize the things they have to worry about. For an instance, letting Marchment walk creates another needless problem which in turn leads me to believe that Zito is unable to be patient and unwilling to accept small victories.

That's a fair point about developing but the last few years put a damper on it sharing prospects with SEA.

To expand on my reasoning for a young defense prospect, who are currently developing in a strong defensive system.

We claimed Forsling and Luostarinen who both grew through CAR system, we have Verhaeghe who developed through TB system so prospects from DAL are taught a very strict two way structure.

It touches on your point finding the overflow of other teams' young players who are blocked by current grouping where we have ability to play/devleop them in the NHL more.

Dallas has been drafting and developing some solid 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks for last few years, I say rob them blind

We are good at turning after thoughts into really good players so imagine some high quality prospects who just need NHL time.

 

[KW]

If a team were to decide to spend the time, effort and money to become a top NHL team, they absolutely could carry it through. Like any other successful organization, it takes good planning and good hiring and good teamwork — but these are all things that are within reach. The first question mark is whether ownership sees the value in it. Obviously in Tampa they do. After Zito was hired I was cautiously optimistic that the Panthers have finally made the decision to be good.

Looks like I was wrong.

 

[pantherbot]

When you look at the Panthers' track record it's quite obvious that the Panthers can't develop their prospects so in the end it doesn't really matter. Their draftees have to be immediate impact players or otherwise their chances of making it from the Panthers meatgrinder are essentially non-existent. In a way I understand why Zito doesn't put much value on guys like Tippett, Schwindt and Smilanic. The Panthers' approach to asset management under Tallon and Zito has been at best questionable.

My understanding is that most (succesful) teams are frugal about their asset mgmt because they wish to minimize the things they have to worry about. For an instance, letting Marchment walk creates another needless problem which in turn leads me to believe that Zito is unable to be patient and unwilling to accept small victories.

Prospect development's something that I've wondered about for awhile now. Viola and team definitely have been willing to spend on the big club, but I do wonder what we're spending on development given how poorly we've done in this area.

I'd hope since we've taken the approach to trade 1st's, that we're extremely focused on developing prospects, but we'll see...recent results haven't been great.

 

[pantherbot]

If a team were to decide to spend the time, effort and money to become a top NHL team, they absolutely could carry it through. Like any other successful organization, it takes good planning and good hiring and good teamwork — but these are all things that are within reach. The first question mark is whether ownership sees the value in it. Obviously in Tampa they do. After Zito was hired I was cautiously optimistic that the Panthers have finally made the decision to be good.

Looks like I was wrong.

Yeah I agree generally with what you're saying. Like good management for other organizations, there are no short cuts. One of the issues I've had with ownership since taking over is I never get the sense that they know how to build a successful organization. They've been good with spending money, but that's only half the battle. All the other stuff like development and having a proper AHL team etc., even the small stuff like game presentation, seems to be lacking.

I still want to be hopeful that Zito can be that guy and I don't want to turn on him yet, he's done a lot of good for this org still, but we'll see how the team deals with the recent turn of events.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

He's got an NMC through all of next season, so you just hope he improves from what we're seeing now and live with it for the time being.

Definitely shouldn't be getting PP1 time or being sent out on the PK with the Staal brothers at the moment, though.

 

[I am not exposed]

He's got an NMC through all of next season, so you just hope he improves from what we're seeing now and live with it for the time being.

Definitely shouldn't be getting PP1 time or being sent out on the PK with the Staal brothers at the moment, though.

I wish Hubey and Weegar would tell him there are great strip clubs in Calgary so he would waive his NMC to go there.

 

[BB88]

Jesus, one down year and we implode on the guy?

I’m willing to let him go at it another year, there’s not many others out there I could see us getting, Chychrun maybe but he is a bigger bandaid than Ekblad.

I’d like to see if he turns it around under a different coach, look at Morissey after Maurice left, he had an awful year last year.
There’s 0 chance he has fallen off a cliff this hard.

The problem isn’t Ekblad today.

It’s Hubs 2.0 but just worse.
What his next contract is going to be and why should Florida be the team that gives him that contract.

He’s a bad skater with multiple lower body injuries on his resume. He’s not going to look pretty in his 30’s, add a 10M cap hit and oh boy

 

[RogerRoger]

I like Ekblad, but it's clear that he's on the Brent Seabrook aging curve.
If Zito is still here he's not getting an other contract with us and he'll have to give his list of teams in 2024-2015 in the hope that he could be Huberdeau'd. He'd be Huberdeau'd this offseason if Zito could, but with a NMC it's not happening.

 

[scholl]

Honestly he’s been up and down for me his whole career. But we got to get rid of him ASAP. No way we renew that contract.

I thought for years that Ek was a disappointment and wanted to get rid of him but then he played well and was in Norris talks about year ago. I just hope that we will see a better version of him next season. Zito cannot make defense even more bad what it is right now. No picks, so there will not be any 'makar' or 'heiskanen'in the roster.

 

[IceManCat]

I thinks he's playing hurt to try and "help" the team. And keep them from dropping all the way down (not helping obviously). I don't think he's this bad. One way or the there it's probably time to move on.

 

[Mogo]

I love Ekblad but he's been horrible this season

One thing I've never got about him is how he never worked on his skating during the off season. IMO he should have ages ago used a whole summer just to learn to skate