The cost for the Detroit Red Wings to land Aaron Ekblad has been revealed
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The Red Wings could try and make a serious upgrade to their defense this summer, and the cost to land Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been revealed.
One of the main areas of the roster that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman could be focusing on improving this summer is the defense, which was once again far too porous in 2024-25.
Several players are hitting free agency that the Red Wings could potentially target, including K'Andre Miller of the New York Rangers, Ivan Provorov of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Vladislav Gavrikov of the Los Angeles Kings.
But another player that could be on Detroit's radar is Aaron Ekblad, currently with the divisional foe Florida Panthers in his 3rd straight Stanley Cup Final.
While Ekblad has said he hopes to remain with the Panthers, salary cap restraints could prevent that from being realistic. And now, the alleged cost of what it would take for the Red Wings to grab him has been released.
Per Detroit Hockey Now, the cost of Ekblad to come to Detroit would be an AAV (average annual value) of around $8 million.
AFPAnalytics.com, a website that does a credible job of projecting NHL contracts, has pending UFA defenseman Aaron Ekblad coming in at seven years at $7.802 million. What DHN is hearing: depending upon which team signs him the AAV could end up at $8 million or $8.25 million. It just takes two competitive bidders to drive up the price. The Red Wings, Toronto and Edmonton have all been linked to bidding for Ekblad if the Florida Panthers can't get him re-signed.
Ekblad was taken with the 1st overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 14 | 106 ANSWERS The cost for the Detroit Red Wings to land Aaron Ekblad has been revealed Should the Red Wings go all-in on Aaron Ekblad this summer? | ||
| Yes | 64 | 60.4 % |
| No | 42 | 39.6 % |
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