Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario is out for the rest of the 2024-25 National Hockey League regular season and first two games of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs according to Rogers Sportsnet on Monday. The reason why Ekblad will not be in the Panthers lineup is because he has been suspended for taking a performance enhancing drug.
Ekblad recently took the drug to recover from an injury. However, he did not check with Panthers personnel first to see if the drug was permissible for him to take.
Ekblad missed eight games in January because of an upper body injury. It is believed to be around this time that Ekblad took the banned substance.
At the trade deadline, the Panthers made a trade to improve their defense. They acquired blueliner Seth Jones of Arlington, Texas in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. In addition to Jones, the Panthers received a fourth round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. In return, the Blackhawks received goaltender Spencer Knight of Darien, Connecticut and a first round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Aaron Ekblad’s statistics in 2024-25
In 56 games, Ekblad has three goals and 30 assists for 33 points. He is a +11 with 53 penalty minutes, 11 power-play points, two shorthanded points, two game-winning goals, 106 shots on goal, 64 blocked shots, 90 hits, 23 takeaways, and 57 giveaways.
Ekblad’s two shorthanded points came in Panthers wins. The first came in a 6-4 Panthers win over the Dallas Stars on November 1. Ekblad set up Sam Reinhart at 6:07 of the second period to put Florida up 4-2 at the time. Ekblad’s second shorthanded point came in a 6-3 Panthers win over the Carolina Hurricanes on November 29. He set up Anton Lundell of Espoo, Finland at 9:08 of the third period to put the Panthers up 5-3.
Ekblad’s first game-winning goal of the season came on November 30 in a 6-0 Panthers win over the Hurricanes. Ekblad scored an unassisted goal at 6:42 of the first period to open the scoring. Ekblad’s second game-winning goal of the season came on January 25 in a 7-2 Panthers win over the San Jose Sharks. Ekblad put the Panthers up 3-2 from Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona with two minutes and 52 seconds left in the first period.
The Panthers lead the Atlantic Division with 83 points. They have two more points than the Toronto Maple Leafs.
