We’re less than a week from the start of NHL free agency and one of the more interesting options that could hit the market is Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The former first overall pick in the 2014 draft and two-time Stanley Cup Champion, is now 29 years old and about to hit free agency for the first time in his career thanks to a Panthers squad running into some tight cap problems.
So should the Flyers be in on the veteran righty? The answer is yes.
First and foremost, the Flyers need a top right-handed defenseman. Travis Sanheim (who’s a lefty) has been serving in that role the last couple years, Rasmus Ristolainen is set to start the season on IR and who knows what kind of condition he’s going to be in when he returns thanks to the repeated injury and subsequent surgeries to his arm. They do have Jamie Drysdale, but he hasn’t done well when elevated in the lineup. He’s typically playing third pair minutes with Nick Seeler.
There’s not really an internal option that even comes close to filling that hole anytime soon, and players the caliber of Ekblad don’t become available everyday.
The Flyers love talking about culture, but the reality is they have nothing on their current roster resembling an outside voice that has experience in a winning environment. The only thing close to modern day deep playoff experience is Ryan Ellis and his run to the Final with Nashville in 2017. Nobody has seen Ryan Ellis outside of the Home Depot garden center in years.
Long-tenured Flyers haven’t seen the playoffs in five years. Younger Flyers haven’t seen the playoffs at all. Guys like Zegras, Drysdale, Ristolainen and Deslauriers come from Anaheim and Buffalo which are equally as inexperienced with postseason runs. There’s not a single big-time outside star on the entire roster, let alone one with the résumé of Ekblad.
Ekblad has two Stanley Cups and 83 games of playoff experience, plus Florida has been among the best regular season teams the last few years as well. If anybody can help the Flyers pace a full season and hold any foot in reality when the playoffs arrive, Ekblad is that guy.
Not only would that skill and leadership significantly boost today’s roster but it would help the future as well. The Flyers have first round pick and fellow right-handed defenseman Oliver Bonk set to make the jump to the professional level on 2025-26. Who better to learn from than Ekblad? All the tips and tricks a top defenseman can pass along to someone the Flyers have a ton of stock invested in would pay massive dividends down the road.
Ideally, you don’t want to sign a 29-year-old to a big-money, long-term contract. But there are some players you make exceptions for… like stars that actually deserve it, and Ekblad fits that bill. If nobody complains when the Flyers hand out these disasters to Sean Couturier, Travis Konency, Travis Sanheim and Owen Tippett, there’s no room to be outraged when it’s actually handed to someone who is worth the investment.
In a perfect world, you’d want someone younger to invest in, but they don’t exactly grow on trees. If you could pry Brandt Clarke out of Los Angeles or something, hey, great! But that’s unlikely to happen. You have to roll with what’s available, and easily overlooking Ekblad is a mistake.
There’s plenty of reason to be skeptical of this scenario for the Flyers, but there’s a decent argument for taking the swing. Yeah, he may not perfectly fit whatever timeline the Flyers are working with, but it’d be a huge move from Briere to show the fanbase that he’s serious, and the ripple effects that the roster could learn from Ekblad could very well shape the future and get this new era of orange back on track.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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