Speculation: is Ekblad available?

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

From Ottawa,

Would 5th overall + Batherson + 28th overall cover it?
You can draft Drysdale with the 5th

Ah No, And who says Drysdale would even be available at #5 anyways? He's definitely a legit target by Detroit at #4.

 

[Laus723]

Eh, this is not completely illegitimate: we've talked a bit about on the main board. Huby's French interviews are often frustrated about lack of playoff opportunities...

which is fine, I’m glad he’s frustrated since they all should be, but where is there a rumor of his wanting out??

That said, of the “big 3,” I see him being the one most likely to be traded, even though he was terrific again. He’s a winger, his trade price is at a premium, and he’s still signed at a great rate.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Laine would look sharp next to Barkov

And Ekblad would look great next to Jomo

Adding Laine would be great, But losing Ekblad would suck even more on the Panthers backend.

 

[violaswallet]

which is fine, I’m glad he’s frustrated since they all should be, but where is there a rumor of his wanting out??

That said, of the “big 3,” I see him being the one most likely to be traded, even though he was terrific again. He’s a winger, his trade price is at a premium, and he’s still signed at a great rate.

I think people just assume, which I'm okay with tbh: I see some signs that seem reasonable, i.e. him being the only one of the big three going home.

I agree about him being the most likely for those reasons plus all of our young depth is at wing...

 

[ole ole]

Dear Canadian fans,

Zito did say he will listen to any offers; no that does not mean we need to trade him absolutely now or that we want to trade him. That even means that we won't trade him for your package of five players and prospects that include a 2nd-3rd line tweener (that scored 20 goals once), your 3rd best prospect, a cap dump and a pick (with protection against a lottery selection!).

This does not that we are broke. If you read the initial source that lets you salivate over our elite talent in blue or (rouge et blanc):

' If there was one thing that surprised Florida GM Bill Zito in our conversation, it was that I’d heard Panthers’ ownership wished to cut payroll.
“No one said that me,” he said after a pause. “That’s news to me.”'

In fact our owners' financial firm had 70% return this years and we are one of the 14 teams that have not cut staff salaries yet. So what does this mean? We aren't trading our number defenseman to clear 1M in salary (and taking on 3 M in additional cap).

How disappointing it must be? One of the best young defensemen won't be coming to your team for scraps; how dare these non-traditional markets! It is our game (As we see teams from Florida and Texas fight for the cup)




Sincerely,
Florida Fans (and all Sunbelt franchises)

P.S.-In all seriousness, good hockey trades for other top talent are possible and that's what young, team-controlled, undisgruntled defensemen go for. Weber for Subban; Jones for Johansen.

 

[ole ole]

Dear Canadian fans,

Zito did say he will listen to any offers; no that does not mean we need to trade him absolutely now or that we want to trade him. That even means that we won't trade him for your package of five players and prospects that include a 2nd-3rd line tweener (that scored 20 goals once), your 3rd best prospect, a cap dump and a pick (with protection against a lottery selection!).

This does not that we are broke. If you read the initial source that lets you salivate over our elite talent in blue or (rouge et blanc):

' If there was one thing that surprised Florida GM Bill Zito in our conversation, it was that I’d heard Panthers’ ownership wished to cut payroll.
“No one said that me,” he said after a pause. “That’s news to me.”'

In fact our owners' financial firm had 70% return this years and we are one of the 14 teams that have not cut staff salaries yet. So what does this mean? We aren't trading our number defenseman to clear 1M in salary (and taking on 3 M in additional cap).

How disappointing it must be? One of the best young defensemen won't be coming to your team for scraps; how dare these non-traditional markets! It is our game (As we see teams from Florida and Texas fight for the cup)

Sincerely,
Florida Fans (and all Sunbelt franchises)

P.S.-In all seriousness, good hockey trades for other top talent are possible and that's what young, team-controlled, undisgruntled defensemen go for. Weber for Subban; Jones for Johansen.

Domi straight up?

 

[Hattrick Kane]

I know this is all speculation, so how do Florida fans feel about Boqvist, Debrincat, Strome and the 17th for him? Or are you trying to save on cap if he were to be potentially traded?

 

[Beezeral]

If building around barkov is the goal getting laine is a step in the right direction to making him happy.

laine for ekblad , 12 and tippet. The deal can get even bigger if involving huberdeau (rumours of him wanting out) Can include pionk, copp, roslovic, etc etc. Jets And panthers make good trading partners, could make both fan bases happy.

you are the absolute king of massively one sided trades that favor the Jets

 

[McJedi]

Ok, I'll bite for fun. Especially since that article suggested that Vancouver ought to target him if he is available.

to FLA:
Brock Boeser + Tyler Myers + Vasily Podkolzin + 1st Round Pick

to Van:
Aaron Ekblad + Mike Matheson​

This seems like a pretty fair trade to me. Well done.

 

[Beezeral]

This seems like a pretty fair trade to me. Well done.

wait what?

The Panthers give up the best asset in the trade by far and have to eat the Tyler Myers contract which is worse than Matheson's.

 

[McJedi]

wait what?

The Panthers give up the best asset in the trade by far and have to eat the Tyler Myers contract which is worse than Matheson's.

But they get a dang good 23 year old top six winger. Ekblad is the best player but Boeser isn’t some modest piece in the deal. He’s really good. They get a really good forward prospect that was a 2019 10th OA pick and had a good post draft season and a 2020 1st round pick.
That’s a nice haul. I like trades that hurt both teams and this trade hurts both teams.

 

[FrolikFan67]

No. They mean Yandle, Matheson, or Stralman. Most likely in that order (matheson would be first but he’s going to be very difficult to move)

 

[Ratsreign]

“I’m going to listen to anything. But I’m going to say no to most things.”
Bill Zito from Friedman’s #13

 

[violaswallet]

Domi straight up?

Nah, although if you add Ryder and a second

 

[violaswallet]

But they get a dang good 23 year old top six winger. Ekblad is the best player but Boeser isn’t some modest piece in the deal. He’s really good. They get a really good forward prospect that was a 2019 10th OA pick and had a good post draft season and a 2020 1st round pick.
That’s a nice haul. I like trades that hurt both teams and this trade hurts both teams.

There is value: Boeser is great.

The thing is that Ekblad is a uniquely difficult player to replace: how many young #1D that are progressing upwards, seemingly happy in their location, and locked into fair contracts are traded for packages?

I'd love Boeser and he is a very good scoring winger, but (a) his contract is uncertain and (b) he is less rare than Ekblad. We could say re-sign Dadanov for equivalent scoring today and we also have Denisenko and Tippett in the system coming up for the future

 

[nergish]

Can anybody get me (somebody who hasn't followed Ekblad's career since his draft and rookie season) up to speed on how good he actually is?
Great size, decent point totals. But is he worth investing assets in, or is there potential for him to be another Gudbranson?

 

[FrolikFan67]

or is there potential for him to be another Gudbranson?

Absolutely not, they’re not even comparable players

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Would you guys do something around Ekblad for Cat + Boqvist?

 

[Laus723]

Can anybody get me (somebody who hasn't followed Ekblad's career since his draft and rookie season) up to speed on how good he actually is?
Great size, decent point totals. But is he worth investing assets in, or is there potential for him to be another Gudbranson?

Up to speed? With that comparison you need a rocket ship to catch up. He’s a solid defenseman and he’s looked better every year. He’s tough to enter the zone against, hes positionally solid most of the time, but he still needs to work on his skating. He doesn’t go for big hits, but he isn’t shy about getting involved in front of the net. Good outlet pass and shot. Still plenty to work on, but he’s really coming into his own. Being paired with Weegar has helped.

 

[Laus723]

Would you guys do something around Ekblad for Cat + Boqvist?

No. Not a knock on either, but it doesn’t improve the team.

 

[BatVader]

Laine + Pionk for Ekbkad + Tippett + Borgstrom

 

[Beezeral]

Laine + Pionk for Ekbkad + Tippett + Borgstrom

No

 

[lawrence]

Zito is probably just picking the brains of other gms by seeing what they will offer for Ekblad. Get familiar with them, see who are the dumbasses and who are the hard balls in the league. He will then leverage this information in the future if he really needs to make a solid move and he will know which gms he can target , or "pick on" .There is really nothing to see here boys, he's not moving Ekblad, lol. It's just information gathering.

 

[violaswallet]

Up to speed? With that comparison you need a rocket ship to catch up. He’s a solid defenseman and he’s looked better every year. He’s tough to enter the zone against, hes positionally solid most of the time, but he still needs to work on his skating. He doesn’t go for big hits, but he isn’t shy about getting involved in front of the net. Good outlet pass and shot. Still plenty to work on, but he’s really coming into his own. Being paired with Weegar has helped.

Speed is his only problem: This year he stepped up as our top offensive and defensive defenseman on regular strength and played the PK. He led the team with a +12, while routinely playing our toughest minutes (23 minute a game). He was on pace for 50 points while not playing our top powerplay; it is quite feasible that he could put up 60 points if he played on our top unit. In his first five seasons, he hit at least 10 goals in each season. If he was a bit faster and skated better, he would be in the conversation for top 10 defensemen.

I think his stock fell on the boards for a couple reasons. His first couple of years he played along Campbell, so was fairly sheltered. As the best shot on the team, he got a lot of powerplay time. From 2016-2018, he dealt with severe concussion issues from the World Cup and no longer having Campbell. Since then, he has made great strides, but without top powerplay time and while playing more of a two-way game, so fans who stat watch or listen by reputation do not realize how strong he has become...

TO be honest, there are four or five defensemen I would trade him for, including Miro, if I were to predict value added over next five years.

 

[StickShift]

Zito is probably just picking the brains of other gms by seeing what they will offer for Ekblad. Get familiar with them, see who are the dumbasses and who are the hard balls in the league. He will then leverage this information in the future if he really needs to make a solid move and he will know which gms he can target , or "pick on" .There is really nothing to see here boys, he's not moving Ekblad, lol. It's just information gathering.

I think there is merit to this idea. Dangle your primary asset to see what people make available around the league, and then see what side-deals you can make for those players without dealing your primary asset.