Confirmed with Link: Panthers re-sign Ekblad for 8 years, 7.5M AAV, 60M total

[Mogo]

lol when he was asked why panther fans should be excited for the upcoming year... had a pretty tough time finding an answer to that one

Hilariously sad.. Awww.. pfff.. "I gotta say something"

 

[Mogo]

I would prefer an athlete take 5 seconds to think about an actual answer, rather than just giving a generic answer that was created for them by a PR person

He did end up giving the generic answer tho

 

[Mogo]

Lol Im re-reading and laughing at the lack of reasonable patience!!

Such unreasonable negativity leads me to be that much more positive and hopeful!

How has that worked out being a Panthers fan? You must be most positive person in the world

Sorry I just had to

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Ekblad being humbled last year.....and how hard it is to stay in the league and to not take the money for granted

https://www.thescore.com/news/1344787

 

[KW]

^ He's saying the right things at least.

 

[Brokin]

^Here's the live interview. He says he's gotten a lot stronger and is in much better shape for this coming season. He cruised are his exact words his first two years which I will assume included last years off season. I still believe the concussions were the main catalyst to the disaster last season as he was just not thinking the game all that clearly. I sure hope and pray the guy can make it through the season without somebody taking a cheap shot and has worked on keeping himself out of vulnerable situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325wXPrDDJA

 

[CanadianPantherFan]

Ekblad being humbled last year.....and how hard it is to stay in the league and to not take the money for granted

https://www.thescore.com/news/1344787

This was/is a big step for him. He admitted the mental side during the season , and now his physical tools needing to improve. I feel his skating is below average, but not the rest of his game. I hope he's working on skating as much or more than strength training. He should try to be lighter build off the ice to improve on his edge work/acceleration/foot speed/first step being light and powerful etc.

 

[I am not exposed]

^ He's saying the right things at least.

Yep. I've been highly critical of the contract ever since he signed it. But he's saying the right things, so hopefully he becomes that number 1 Dman we need.

 

[FrolikFan67]

his skating may not be incredible, but its definitely good enough and doesnt hinder his play imo. he played calm and composed the first 2 seasons, didnt panic, made usually smart safe plays. as long as his smarts are matching the skating then its not a problem, so i just don't think he was mentally in tune (maybe because of the concussions, maybe not,obviously doesnt help either way). so if he's feeling good, working and training hard, doing some skating work, don't see him struggling as a skater or as a defender, just has to be played in the right situations for him, hopefully the coaches are good and have solid systems to help him and the rest of the corp, mentally get back into it, and go back to what was making him successful and then some. you don't go 1st oa, get the calder at 18/19yrs old while putting up 10+g and 39pt at that age if your skating is atrocious. he'll get it together, just hoping he stays healthy. or if he does sustain any injuries theyre not head related.

 

[Gentle Man]

his skating may not be incredible, but its definitely good enough and doesnt hinder his play imo. he played calm and composed the first 2 seasons, didnt panic, made usually smart safe plays. as long as his smarts are matching the skating then its not a problem, so i just don't think he was mentally in tune (maybe because of the concussions, maybe not,obviously doesnt help either way). so if he's feeling good, working and training hard, doing some skating work, don't see him struggling as a skater or as a defender, just has to be played in the right situations for him, hopefully the coaches are good and have solid systems to help him and the rest of the corp, mentally get back into it, and go back to what was making him successful and then some. you don't go 1st oa, get the calder at 18/19yrs old while putting up 10+g and 39pt at that age if your skating is atrocious. he'll get it together, just hoping he stays healthy. or if he does sustain any injuries theyre not head related.

Campbell, Brian

 

[FrolikFan67]

Campbell, Brian

...ye....yes?

he helped him, absolutely, but you don't go from a tremendous player prospering to a poor player just because you lose 36yr old campbell. its not like yandle is a slouch when it comes to puck movers. neither is matheson. campbell wasnt exactly known for his d or played with any physicality. he helped him no doubt, but to say he alone is the reason why he fell off so much is a bit overkill.

 

[ShootIt]

Too many variables in why Ekblad had a down year.

 

[Gentle Man]

...ye....yes?

he helped him, absolutely, but you don't go from a tremendous player prospering to a poor player just because you lose 36yr old campbell. its not like yandle is a slouch when it comes to puck movers. neither is matheson. campbell wasnt exactly known for his d or played with any physicality. he helped him no doubt, but to say he alone is the reason why he fell off so much is a bit overkill.

1. He was heavily sheltered.
2. BC was better than Yandle on everything except power play.
3. Soup was known for his play WHICH included his D. Physicality no. But D, absolutely.
4. Matheson was not ready.

Other factors were involved, yes, but at forefront is Soup.

 

[Chaos2k7]

1. He was heavily sheltered.
2. BC was better than Yandle on everything except power play.
3. Soup was known for his play WHICH included his D. Physicality no. But D, absolutely.
4. Matheson was not ready.

Other factors were involved, yes, but at forefront is Soup.

We wanted Soup. What can you do, they tried to find the next best thing.

 

[BB88]

his skating may not be incredible, but its definitely good enough and doesnt hinder his play imo. he played calm and composed the first 2 seasons, didnt panic, made usually smart safe plays. as long as his smarts are matching the skating then its not a problem, so i just don't think he was mentally in tune (maybe because of the concussions, maybe not,obviously doesnt help either way). so if he's feeling good, working and training hard, doing some skating work, don't see him struggling as a skater or as a defender, just has to be played in the right situations for him, hopefully the coaches are good and have solid systems to help him and the rest of the corp, mentally get back into it, and go back to what was making him successful and then some. you don't go 1st oa, get the calder at 18/19yrs old while putting up 10+g and 39pt at that age if your skating is atrocious. he'll get it together, just hoping he stays healthy. or if he does sustain any injuries theyre not head related.

It limits his potential.

I don't see a player with that kind of skating reaching elite #1D status in todays NHL.

 

[Gentle Man]

It limits his potential.

I don't see a player with that kind of skating reaching elite #1D status in todays NHL.

This is true.

And we need him to be Norris Caliber, not just a #1.

 

[I am not exposed]

We wanted Soup. What can you do, they tried to find the next best thing.

Not sign Ekblad to a crazy extension!

 

[Chaos2k7]

Not sign Ekblad to a crazy extension!

Again you miss the point. They signed Yandle.

 

[I am not exposed]

Again you miss the point. They signed Yandle.

Again, you missed the point. The talk is about Ekblad and his areas of concern. Campbell was a big reason for his success. Seeing how he would have done without Campbell instead of giving him a contract extension would have been the sensible thing to do. Sure, they signed Yandle, but to think he would be a direct replacement for Yandle is naive.

Ekblad was a RFA, so there was no need to jump the gun on an extension. With or without Campbell. That's what they could have done!

 

[FinlandPanther]

Not sign Ekblad to a crazy extension!

Are you going to complain about this everyday? He's not worth it yet, but he has to potential to be easily worth that. He's 21 relax. If he's 25 and sucks then i get it.

 

[KW]

1. He was heavily sheltered.
2. BC was better than Yandle on everything except power play.
3. Soup was known for his play WHICH included his D. Physicality no. But D, absolutely.
4. Matheson was not ready.

Other factors were involved, yes, but at forefront is Soup.

I disagree that Campbell was the factor that made Ekblad a rookie sensation. He helped, but so did a lot of other people.

Ekblad's own admission of coasting is by far the biggest reason for the regression. Coasting caused him not to be ready, which caused him to not be mentally alert, which caused him to put himself in bad situations and/or unable to avoid them. That's by far the biggest factor, and I don't understand how that's even debatable.

 

[I am not exposed]

Are you going to complain about this everyday? He's not worth it yet, but he has to potential to be easily worth that. He's 21 relax. If he's 25 and sucks then i get it.

Until he proves he's worth the money, then yes.

 

[RainingRats]

Why does everyone always blame the coaches or management or other players for most of a player's poor play? The players should take most of the responsibility for their poor play.

Ekblad came into camp out of shape, he was out of position constantly, and he was making bad decisions all the time. That's on him. It's not like Brian Campbell was going to suddenly get Ekblad into shape, or make him more positionally sound, or have him make better decisions. And one of his strong suits, his offensive game, was great his first two seasons and I wouldn't give Campbell credit at all for it.

 

[austropanther]

Why does everyone always blame the coaches or management or other players for most of a player's poor play? The players should take most of the responsibility for their poor play.

Ekblad came into camp out of shape, he was out of position constantly, and he was making bad decisions all the time. That's on him. It's not like Brian Campbell was going to suddenly get Ekblad into shape, or make him more positionally sound, or have him make better decisions. And one of his strong suits, his offensive game, was great his first two seasons and I wouldn't give Campbell credit at all for it.

I completely disagree. The young guys need guidance, especially how to train, eat properly and keep the motivation up.

But what is way more important for a player and especially a D-man IMO is to know what your D partner does (or doesn't). The better you can read and understand your partner, the more easily you get into your comfort zone producing less mistakes - especially when you partner fits your style. Right now it seems Soup was the best guy Ek had so far, fitting that mold.

On his skating: If we are really talking Norris, I don't recall Nik Lidström being a top-notch skater. Didn't stop him from winning several (not that I am saying Ek would be a sure thing to win it ever)

 

[Crossbar]

Why does everyone always blame the coaches or management or other players for most of a player's poor play? The players should take most of the responsibility for their poor play.

Ekblad came into camp out of shape, he was out of position constantly, and he was making bad decisions all the time. That's on him. It's not like Brian Campbell was going to suddenly get Ekblad into shape, or make him more positionally sound, or have him make better decisions. And one of his strong suits, his offensive game, was great his first two seasons and I wouldn't give Campbell credit at all for it.

Completely agree.

Ekblad was making basic hockey mistakes (bad skating, bad passes both sending/receiving, shooting accuracy, mistimed hits, bad positioning, taking bad penalties, misjudging the speed of his opponents and getting burned, etc...), there is no one at fault expect himself and suffering another head injury before the start of the season is his only valid excuse. Yeah, he probably misses his old defense partner, but we're in major trouble if he isn't able to play with other guys....there are 5+ other d-men on the team and he has to be as good as all of them and he'll never learn to reach that by being sheltered forever in minutes and different situations.

Also, not surprising Campbell is getting all the credit, but Willie Mitchell and his wife (who Ekblad lived with every day since entering the league) are getting zero mention.