“I’ve spent 11 years here, and that’s more than I’ve spent in any home or city in my life. So it’s home,” Aaron Ekblad, the longtime Panthers defenseman, said about how familiar he is with the South Florida surroundings. However, with unrestricted free agency looming overhead, the 29-year-old’s NHL future is under heavy speculation, and rumors about him staying back in Sunrise continue to go back and forth.
Winning the Stanley Cup twice in a row, Ekblad will surely go down as a Panthers legend. Naturally, fans wouldn’t like anything else than seeing the Ontario, Canada native hang around the Florida locker room for a potential three-peat. However, with recent focus by the top brass on retaining the likes of Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett, the silence on Ekblad’s next chapter with the Panthers has become louder than ever. However, a concrete conclusion could soon arrive.
NHL Rumour Report took to X on June 26 to share hockey insider Jeff Marek’s thoughts on Aaron Ekblad finding his new home away from Florida. “Utah trading Kesselring opens up a right hand slot for someone, perhaps Aaron Ekblad,” Marek said on the Leafs Morning Take podcast. The Buffalo Sabres recently acquired Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan in a trade deal with the Utah Mammoth in exchange for JJ Peterka. With that, the Utah team now has a void in its blue line that needs immediate filling. And who better to do it than the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning defenseman?
Jeff Marek: Utah trading Kesselring opens up a right hand slot for someone, perhaps Aaron Ekblad – Leafs Morning Take
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) June 27, 2025
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