NHL insider reveals the Red Wings were moments away from signing top available free agent

James Mirtle would report that the Detroit Red Wings would make a generous offer to UFA defenseman Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers.

Instead, the two-time Stanley Cup champion has opted to stay in Sunrise, FLA, with GM Bill Zito and the Panthers. To the tune of $6.1 million AAV.

While Yzerman arguably sat on his "yzerhands" this postseason, he did attempt to upgrade the Red Wings' blue line here. But he failed, as he couldn't lure Ekblad out of the sanctuary that is Sunrise.

It had to be a hard sell, as we often see players on winning teams take a hometown discount to get another shot at winning in the NHL. For Ekblad, this appears to be no different.

Ekblad would re-sign in Florida for $6.1 million AAV with GM Bill Zito. But for the Panthers defenseman, we'll never get an idea of what Yzerman offered Ekblad due to the fact that there was never a contract signing.

Ekblad could've been a foundational piece on the blue line to help push the team into playoff contention.

It's helpful that the Panthers were able to utilize LTIR to be able to sign Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and now Aaron Ekblad.

We're wondering what kind of cap gymnastics Bill Zito has in store for us once Matthew Tkachuk is healthy.

In the meantime, this is another example of Hockeytown failing to land another big-name NHL player.

They've missed out on Nikolaj Ehlers, Sam Bennett, and others.

GM Steve Yzerman needs to build a culture here that draws players here, and until then, it's a hard sell, especially to someone who's won 2 cups.