Keeping core intact should be Panthers' first win of upcoming season

Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand. Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Keeping championship core intact should be Panthers' first win of upcoming season

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Jun 30, 2025 6:03 PM ET

The Florida Panthers keep gearing up to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup.

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Florida agreed to an eight-year, $48.8M deal on Monday, via TSN/The Athletic contributor Pierre LeBrun. A few hours later, things kept getting better for the Panthers.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweeted the Panthers and center Brad Marchand were "closing in" on a six-year deal for just under $32M. LeBrun also tweeted both parties agreed to a six-year contract.

Ekblad has agreed to an 8-year extension x $6.1 M AAV to stay with the Cup champs in Florida https://t.co/AO36E59GYE
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 30, 2025

Hearing Brad Marchand is closing in on a six-year extension in Florida...just under $32M is the total.

The Panthers pulled it off. Verrrrrrrrrrry impressive
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 30, 2025

The Panthers should thank Ekblad for his loyalty. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday and likely could've scored a better deal if he had hit the open market. He made more on his previous contract with Florida, an eight-year, $60M deal.

However, it's apparent that he loves the team, which selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.

"I live and breathe for the Florida Panthers," Ekblad said before the start of the 2025 Stanley Cup, per The Athletic's Eric Stephens. "I bleed for the Florida Panthers. I've given my body and everything on this team. I want to keep doing it forever as long as they'll let me keep coming to the rink."

Puckpedia estimated the Panthers had $4.9M in cap room after reaching an agreement with Ekblad. This gave them enough to agree to a deal with Marchand, a four-time All-Star, who's also expected to take a slight pay cut. His previous contract was eight years, $49M.

On Friday, the Panthers re-signed center Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64M deal. He, Ekblad and Marchand played a key role during Florida's championship run, combining for 29 postseason goals.

Bennett, of course, won the 2024-25 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after netting 15 goals in 23 postseason games.

It seems the reigning champions are already offseason winners after retaining three of their stars.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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