Aaron Ekblad & $17,700,000 Panthers center's future with franchise made clear by GM Bill Zito after Seth Jones trade

Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett are two staples of the Florida Panthers. They were key contributors in Florida's run to the finals in 2023 and Stanley Cup victory in 2024; however, their future beyond this season is unclear.

Ekblad and Bennett are pending unrestricted free agents in the final season of an eight-year $60,000,000 and four-year $17,700,000 deals (per Spotrac). It has been presumed that the Panthers would lock both core players up for the long term, similarly to how they've done with Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verheaghe and Gustav Forsling.

However, they are tight against the salary cap and the blockbuster trade deadline acquisition of Seth Jones has raised questions about their upcoming free agents' future with the team.

Florida general manager Bill Zito made an appearance on the SiriusXM NHL Network radio after acquiring Jones and was asked whether he's still comfortable in re-signing Ekblad and Bennett.

"Yes, yes and I don't think this, at least from, from my math, which is, you guys can imagine, I've done too many times," Zito said on March 5. "I'm going to end up with a solution to pi pretty soon. I've done it so much. It doesn't impact those two, so we can get it done."

He was also asked if he expects either player to test the market on July 1.

"No, but I'm not really going to talk about that, but the acquisition does not preclude us from either one or both," Zito said.

It should be noted that Chicago retained $2.5 million of Seth Jones' $9.5 million average annual salary, along with taking on Spencer Knight's $4.5 million contract.

Aaron Ekblad is serving a suspension

It was announced on March 10 that Aaron Ekblad had been suspended 20 games without pay for violating the NHL's performance-enhancing substances program.

He was sidelined because of a lower-body injury at the time and said in a statement that he took something as a part of his recovery without checking with the proper medical and team personnel.

Ekblad will miss the final 18 games of the regular season and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Florida Panthers will continue the regular season without Ekblad on Thursday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Nationwide Arena.