Panthers Cup Champion Aaron Ekblad Signs New Contract

Coming into today, the belief around the National Hockey League was that Aaron Ekblad would most likely be hitting the market as a free agent tomorrow.

After all, the Panthers are in a bit of a cap crunch after winning two Stanley Cups in a row, and much of their available cap room has already been committed to Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett.

Notably Bennet told Panthers fans that he was staying with the team during their Stanley Cup celebrations, but Ekblad was explicitly warned by his agent not to make any similar claims.

Perhaps that was just a negotiating tactic, as Ekblad's agent would obviously like to get the best possible deal for his client.

That being said, sometimes players are willing to take a team-friendly discount in order to give themselves a better chance to win, and that is exactly what other Panthers players have done.

Bennet for example, was rumored to be getting 10 million a season on the market, but he signed for just 8 million a year on his new deal with the cats.

Now, it appears as though Ekblad has chosen to do the same thing.

Elliotte Friedman is now reporting that the contract will come in at the standard eight-year length with an average annual value of around 6.1 million dollars, far less than he could have gotten from another team on the open market.

This is great news for Panthers fans, but it does mean that re-signing Brad Marchand is now highly unlikely.

With Ekblad signing at 6.1 million, that leaves the team with just under 5 million in cap space remaining, which probably won't be enough to bring back the former Bruins captain.

Still though, it is hard not to see this as an absolute win for the reigning Stanley Cup champs.