Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Player Preview: Elias Pettersson (D)
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Forbes
27 minutes ago
- Forbes
Aaron Ekblad On Why He Re-Signed With Florida Panthers At Discounted Rate: ‘We Wanted To Be Here'
Aaron Ekblad will likely end his career with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers' second-longest tenured player re-upped with the only franchise he's ever known this offseason on an eight-year, $48.8 million deal. Despite rumored interest from other teams – including more money – the 29-year-old re-signed with the Panthers ($6.1 million annually) for what was considered less than his market value. The former Calder Memorial Trophy winner – the NHL's Rookie of the Year award – details why he decided to re-sign with the Panthers as they seek to three-peat. 'I never made it to free agency, so I'm not sure exactly what was out there,' says Ekblad in a one-on-one interview. 'We felt that there was a market for me in other places. But at the end of the day, it was always the Florida Panthers, and we wanted to be here. Whether or not it was discount or not, the important thing was to be a Florida Panther for life.' For perspective, Ekblad's previous deal with the Panthers was for eight years and $60 million signed back during the 2016 offseason. Fast forward nearly a decade later when salaries across all sports have skyrocketed and Ekblad is signing for less than he did in 2016. There are a lot of factors to that, especially when considering the Panthers are now a Stanley Cup powerhouse. In other words, the veteran stars need to take a discount for it to fit under the salary cap to keep the entire core together, which is what general manager Bill Zito has done. Secondly, Ekblad's role has changed a bit where he's one of the many core members. Back in 2016, he was probably considered one of the three young core members of the Panthers alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. Fast forward to now and he's one of the many core members alongside guys like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Sergei Bobrovsky among countless others. While the Panthers' aspirations have changed and their roster has obviously become more loaded with stars, Ekblad is still considered in the prime of his career and considered a key piece of the team. According to NHL insider James Mirtle of The Athletic, the Detroit Red Wings could have offered Ekblad a more lucrative contract. He could have signed for much more than the average annual value of the $6.1 million he signed in Florida. Ekblad has been around since the days when the Panthers were an afterthought in the NHL universe, which wasn't too long ago. Florida In a short period of time, they've emerged as South Florida's new favorite sports team. The Panthers missed the playoffs four times in Ekblad's first five seasons. The 29-year-old veteran details Florida's rise as a hockey powerhouse. 'It's been a whirlwind,' says Ekblad of the franchise's growth over the past 11 years. 'It's been a long, tough ride for myself, personally, ups and downs with injuries and stuff like that. But extremely proud of the team and the fact that we're in this condition now is never easy to attain or sustain. We feel that we work hard every day to do that.' Ekblad says he's 'extremely happy' to be in the position that he's in. He admits he didn't expect the Panthers to become the powerhouse they've become. That's not hard to believe considering the Panthers went 26 years (between 1996 and 2022) without winning a playoff series. 'Absolutely,' says Ekblad. 'I mean for myself, the goal to play for one team and playing for the Florida Panthers forever wasn't always something that was a sure thing. The fact that it's happened for me and and our team now winning two Stanley Cups, I can't say that I ever expected it. I'm extremely happy and excited to to be in this position.' Ekblad's latest contract ends when he's 37 years old. The intention is to retire as a member of the Panthers, marking 19 total seasons with the club. That would set a record, assuming Barkov doesn't stay and retire after Ekblad. When asked what it's going to take for a three-peat, Ekblad says it's going to be a lot of 'determination and preparation.' 'A lot of heart, determination, preparation,' says Ekblad. 'Obviously, a lot of us have been on the ice for two, three-to-four weeks now and in the gym no more than a week or two after the season. It's important to continue to build on what you have, and we feel we're in a good position to do so.' While the Panthers fan favorite is obviously bracing for another long season as Florida looks to continue their dominance on the ice, he's keeping busy in the offseason. Ekblad made an appearance at Huey Magoo's in Boca Raton, Florida, which is located less than 30 mins from the team's arena at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Ekblad and countless others Panthers players have made multiple public appearances since winning the Stanley Cup, staying active in the community while meeting fans. 'I think you see all the time, a lot of us are out in the community, whether it's engagement opportunities like this with Huey Magoo's or charitable experiences or anything that the Florida Panthers Foundation does in the community,' says Ekblad. 'We're obviously proud to be a part of the community, and for myself, potentially 19 seasons with the Florida Panthers. Extremely proud to be a Panther and to be able to do things like this.' The longtime Panthers veteran hung out with fans, signed autographs and ate some of Huey Magoo's most-known food staple, their chicken tenders. Unsurprisingly, Ekblad says that's his favorite item on the menu. 'Chicken tenders,' says Ekblad when asked what his favorite item is. "That's No. 1 for me, I love it. The filet mignon (chicken tenders).
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Canucks notebook: Jack Roslovic, centre upgrades and Vitali Kravtsov's chance
Summer vacation is nearly over. We're firmly into back-to-school season now, and the Vancouver Canucks are only a month out from opening up training camp in Penticton and officially beginning the 2025-26 season. Despite the moody skies and the recent rainfall in the lower mainland, the scent of hockey isn't in the crisp fall air just yet. Still, as Canucks players begin to trickle back into town, we're inching our way closer to puck drop. We'll be back to it soon enough. As I check back in myself from a 3 1/2-week break spent fishing and swimming and cycling to and from various Vancouver beaches, let's empty out the notebook and get into some of what I'm hearing around the hockey club as the summer winds down. When we last checked in after the Dakota Joshua trade, we noted the Canucks were considering their options on the late-summer unrestricted free agent market, but didn't view what remained — including Jack Roslovic — as 'the answer' necessarily to their significant needs down the middle of their forward group. Advertisement What was true in mid-July remains true today … mostly. The one change is that Vancouver's hockey operations leadership group has taken the time to do even more due diligence on some of the value free-agent options still available. They've also spent some additional time considering their options in concert with head coach Adam Foote. The Canucks seem to have emerged from that process with a sense of conviction that between a healthy Filip Chytil and the late-season emergence of Aatu Räty, the club has enough at centre to stay in control in the short term if necessary, and that a centre-capable option, like Roslovic, isn't likely to be the full-time answer the club requires down the middle of its forward group anyway. At this point, from what I can gather from senior club sources informed about the organization's thinking on the matter, the Canucks have cooled significantly on the prospect of adding Roslovic as an unrestricted free agent at this point. Vancouver is still in the market to land a centre, but the trade market is viewed as a more likely and realistic route of addressing the club's greatest remaining need. On that score, the club is actively kicking tires and exploring its options. Vancouver would execute a trade today if the deal returned a credible middle-six centre — even if that centre had more of a defensive bent to their game. The Canucks might, however, have to wait until closer to Canadian Thanksgiving to land the reinforcements they require. In three consecutive seasons — the Jason Dickinson trade in 2022, the Sam Lafferty trade in 2023 and the Tucker Poolman trade in 2024 — the club has executed trades in and around that first weekend of October, when rival teams make difficult roster decisions ahead of the regular season. That's the timeline that we'll be monitoring closely in the weeks and months to come. Advertisement And though the Canucks would of course prefer to more proactively flesh out their centre depth ahead of time, hockey operations leadership is comfortable betting on the centres they have, especially Chytil and Räty, going into the season. If the Canucks have to wait until November to land the centre upgrade this lineup craves, it seems they are comfortable enough with their options to be patient. The only piece of Canucks news I missed on vacation was the club's bringing back winger Vitali Kravtsov on a one-year, veteran minimum contract, which carries a healthy $450,000 AHL salary. Acquired in a no-risk, jump-the-waiver-queue type trade by the Canucks in February 2023, Kravtsov struggled in 16 games with Vancouver and signed in the KHL the next summer with little in the way of resistance from the Canucks, though Vancouver did tender him a qualifying offer to preserve his rights. The big-bodied 25-year-old went No. 9 to the New York Rangers at the 2018 NHL Draft, so he's got considerable pedigree. He's also got evident size and skill, although the skill is only so valuable in the absence of the hockey sense required to use it, and the size is only so valuable without the willingness to play a heavy game. Watching Kravtsov before and during his time with the Canucks, I struggled to wrap my head around exactly what he is as an NHL player. In the intervening years, Kravtsov has seemingly found his game in the KHL. This year, the 25-year-old winger was the sixth leading scorer in the KHL with 27 goals and 58 points in 66 games. That production seems auspicious, but it's worth noting that the KHL scoring leaderboard is dotted with players like former Canuck Josh Leivo and Abbotsford legend Sheldon Rempal, who, at best, would be hard-pressed to break camp with Vancouver. Advertisement There are a few interesting things about the club's decision to bring Kravtsov back that are worth unpacking, however. First off, the club doesn't necessarily view Kravtsov as having added something new to his game or turned a developmental corner during his two seasons in the KHL. The organization, more than anything, views Kravtsov as a player who came to it at a moment in his career when his confidence was at an ebb. After having been one of the most productive KHL forwards the past two years, the club is hopeful Kravtsov is feeling more settled and that he's used the last two years to rebuild his confidence, more than anything else. On a low-risk deal, the club is hopeful confidence can make the difference for Kravtsov in his second go-around in Vancouver. Secondly, though Kravtsov's two-way deal includes a healthy American League salary, it doesn't include a European out clause. Kravtsov will get a real opportunity to make Vancouver's NHL team out of training camp, but whether he's able to break camp in the NHL, he'll be an option to remain with the organization throughout the season. That said, there was a fair bit of interest in Kravtsov expressed by rival teams around the NHL before the Canucks signed him. Internally, the club seems to believe there's enough interest from other corners of the league that if he were to hit waivers ahead of the season, he'd be at high risk of being claimed. Given the Canucks have 14 forwards on one-way contracts (which guarantee a player an NHL-level salary), plus another forward on a two-way deal in Arshdeep Bains with an inside track to break camp with the NHL club, Kravtsov will face an uphill climb at training camp. The pedigree, skill and size are there, and Vancouver, without incurring any sort of meaningful risk, wanted to take the first look at how Kravtsov's game has evolved in the wake of his successful two-year KHL stint at training camp. (Top photo of Vitali Kravtsov: Bob Frid / USA Today) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
If and when this prospect dog will have his Day with the Edmonton Oilers
The Top 20 countdown of our 2025 Cult of Hockey Prospect Series continues. These are the twenty young men in the system today closest to making an impact with the big club. Players only fall off the list once they: -Make the NHL -Get dealt to a different organization -Age out, or… -Drop off the map. O.K.? Let us proceed… 2025 Edmonton Oilers Top Prospect Rankings #17 – Nathaniel Day, G (Voters: David Staples, Kurt Leavins, Jim Matheson, Ira Cooper). A few days ago, I wrote how the Oilers only have two goaltenders in their Top 20 prospects. That is when we were featuring young Eemil Vinni at #20. The other goalie in the Top 20 is the subject of this prospect preview, juts mere notches higher on the ladder than his tender brethren… …or at least that is how the Cult of Hockey panel sees them. A Grimsby, Ontario native, Nathaniel Day was drafted in 2023 by Edmonton, in Round 6, number 184 overall. Day is a fairly tall kid at 6'4, weighs in at 205, and catches and shoots left. He is 20 years old right now and will turn 21 in February. Puckpedia has him on a three-year contract with a cap hit of $856,667 through 2028. After a strong finish to 2023-24 for Flint of the OHL when he supplanted a more experienced starter, Day took another decent forward in 2024-25. In 59 games he was 26-25-5, with a 3.07 GAA and a .894 SV%. Those were improvements from 2024-24's 54 GP, 25-26-2, 3.73 GAA, 0.0868 SV%. Progress. He then had a productive cup of coffee with Fort Wayne of the ECHL at season's end. He was 2-0-0 in 3 games with a 0.43 GAA and a .981 SV%. For the Komets in the playoffs, he was 2-1-1, 2.17 GAA, 0.914 GAA. Small sample, but encouraging. Here is what the scouts say. Elite Prospects: – 'Day displays a lot of patience in a variety of different scoring opportunities. He is solid and composed on breakaways, rarely making the first move. When the puck is worked around the zone, he shows good attention to detail by making micro adjustments with his feet to stay on angle, even when the play around him speeds up.' From our old friend Bruce McCurdy's Cult of Hockey article back on draft day: – 'His wide stance could become more of an issue as he moves on in his career. It forces him to make a lot of lunging moves across the crease on plays that he could otherwise beat on his feet with a confident push. A narrower stance that gives him better access to his edges, combined with the patience that he already has could be a deadly combination. Questions about tracking have also emerged because too many clean shots beat him.' And finally, from Dobber Prospects: – 'An athletic goaltender who can make high-difficulty saves. Needs to get better with reads and consistency.' Other player pluses: -His height combined with his upright posture enables him to cover a lot of net. -Moves well post-to-post. Good news, for a bigger man. -He has quick pads. Fits his stand-up approach. Where does he need work? -As alluded to above, Day can go down early, and leave himself scrambling to get back on his feet where he is strongest. -Tracking the puck. Common for young goalies. His (small sample) good start in the ECHL is a good sign, though. -Perimeter & Angles. Related to the above, he can struggle with outside shots. General observations: -Day was a Ken Holland/Tyler Wright selection, so Stan Bowman and Rick Pracey may not have the same investment in him. That is just how it works in most organizations, and hardly exclusive to Edmonton. We shall see. Projection: -Nathaniel Day has a way to go and a lot to prove and improve upon before he would be considered a strong NHL prospect. In the short term, expect his time this upcoming season to be split between the ECHL and AHL. Most goalies develop slower than skaters and just need the reps at a lower pro level first. So, if he starts in Fort Wayne and even spends most of the season there, that is not necessarily a danger sign. -But if Day ends up in more games for the Condors than the Komets this season, that would be a significant plus. It would signal encouraging maturity and growth in the points outlined above. That would be considered the best case case scenario for Day, in the short-term. -As for his NHL future? At this time, it would seem several seasons away at the very best. Day may stack up no better than the organizational Number five. But as a 6th Round pick, he was always going to be a long shot. Next up…prospect #16 from my Cult of Hockey colleague David Staples. Now on Bluesky @ Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@ This article is not AI generated. Recently, at The Cult… STAPLES: Are the Oilers really in trade talks for Boston's 1st Round winger LEAVINS: Oilers cap challenges not Connor McDavid's problem Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025. Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here
