Rumor: Pagnotta: Panthers are shopping Aaron Ekblad

[BelovedIsles]

Honestly, I think he’s pretty overrated. He turns the puck over, and doesn’t add much offense.

 

[OpenIceHit]

Utah it's time! Let's grab Ekblad + Lundell!

You Utah fans will never cease to amaze me!

 

[Cats2TheCup]

I’ve always felt like Ekblad was 50/50 on retiring after his contract ended.

whether you give Ekblad or 1st way down the road (+ Mik),
Whether or not Rein stays or exits as a ufa, you could use bread
def upcoming season
and you get a deep dive look to see if you want to extend further, and if yes, for how much

The OP here is reporting Ekbl is being shopped.
You are getting real value now, and after next season, if AE is still a fit, you can pitch him as a ufa b'c Rs not likely to try to retain, view as a stopgap

Do you disagree you can use Pan. in any event?

Disagree. He was a no show when we played him in the playoffs.

 

[bernmeister]

I honestly don't see us moving 1-2 defensemen and bringing in another $10 MIL forward with rumors around Reino and Verhaeghe being 8ish for one and 9ish for the other. Makes no sense to bring Panarin in.

Edit: even if we don't sign either of our forwards, I don't see us bringing Panarin in. Zito is obviously fine paying guys (Barkov, Tkachuk, Forsling), but he also is wise with how he uses the cap. That much to one guy, who'd be making more than Barkov, just doesn't seem like a move he'd make

gen concur
remenb Pan is expiring

 

[UnleashRasmus]

I’d rather have Trouba at 8m for 2 more years as a Sabre than I would Ekblad tbh. Plus he provides a ton of leadership

I'll take neither lol

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Honestly, I think he’s pretty overrated. He turns the puck over, and doesn’t add much offense.

I think he was good at one point, but he’s on 2+ significant leg injuries now. Took me awhile to get my stride back after breaking my leg, and that was just one injury when I was a kid and still resilient. His strength was his skating, so I’m not surprised by his decline. Tough to really get back to 100%, all sorts of muscle imbalance shit.

That said, Stamkos bounced back from exactly what I’m talkin about, so who knows? Maybe with a good offseason Ekblad isn’t ekh, bad.