Eliteprospects
Canada Aaron Ekblad
#5 Florida Panthers / NHL - 25/26
1-time Hlinka Gretzky Cup Gold Medal 1
1-time World Championship Gold Medal 1
1-time U17 WHC Bronze Medal 1
1-time NHL All-Rookie Team 1
1-time NHL Rookie of the Year (Calder Trophy) 1
2-time NHL Stanley Cup Champion 2
1-time OHL First All-Rookie Team 1
1-time OHL First All-Star Team 1
1-time OHL Most Outstanding Defenseman (Max Kaminsky Trophy) 1
1-time OHL Rookie of the Year (Emms Family Award) 1
Date of Birth
Feb 07, 1996
Position
D
Age
29
Height
6'4" / 193 cm
Place of Birth
Windsor, ON, CAN
Weight
220 lbs / 100 kg
Nation
Canada
Shoots
R
Youth Team
Sun County MHA
Contract
33/34
Cap Hit
$6,100,000 Powered by
NHL Rights
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers / Signed
Drafted
2014 round 1 #1 overall by Florida Panthers
Agency
PREMIUM

Brother: Darien Ekblad

Just the second player to be granted exceptional status in the OHL. Ekblad is a true two-way defenseman. He makes great passes, uses his size to his advantage, plays the body, quarterbacks the power play, can take over the game in any of the three zones and has great hockey sense.
(Tyler Parchem, EP 2014)

© Photo: Dan Hickling

Use/Embed statistics

Aaron Ekblad Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
2009-10 Sun County Panthers U15 AAA ALLIANCE U15 -* -* -* -* -* -* |
2010-11 Sun County Panthers U16 AAA “C” ALLIANCE U16 30* 4* 30* 34* 34* -* | Playoffs 18 5 16 21 14 -
2011-12 Barrie Colts OHL 63* 10* 19* 29* 34* -5* | Playoffs 13 2 3 5 8 -1
Canada Ontario U17 “A” WHC-17 5* 1* 2* 3* 4* -* |
2012-13 Barrie Colts OHL 54* 7* 27* 34* 64* 29* | Playoffs 22 7 10 17 28 11
Canada Ontario U17 “C” WHC-17 5* 2* 4* 6* 4* -* |
2013-14 Barrie Colts “C” OHL 58* 23* 30* 53* 91* 7* | Playoffs 9 2 4 6 14 -4
Canada U20 WJC-20 7* 1* 1* 2* 2* 0* |
2014-15 Florida Panthers NHL 81* 12* 27* 39* 32* 12* |
Canada WC 10* 4* 3* 7* 6* 10* |
2015-16 Florida Panthers NHL 78* 15* 21* 36* 41* 18* | Playoffs 6 0 1 1 0 0
2016-17 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 68* 10* 11* 21* 58* -23* |
Team North America “A” WCup 1* 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* |
2017-18 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 82* 16* 22* 38* 71* 9* |
Canada WC 10* 1* 5* 6* 6* 5* |
2018-19 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 82* 13* 24* 37* 47* 1* |
2019-20 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 67* 5* 36* 41* 26* 12* | Playoffs 4 0 0 0 2 0
2020-21 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 35* 11* 11* 22* 33* 5* |
2021-22 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 61* 15* 42* 57* 26* 38* | Playoffs 10 1 4 5 11 -2
2022-23 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 71* 14* 24* 38* 68* -14* | Playoffs 20 2 6 8 20 9
2023-24 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 51* 4* 14* 18* 50* 27* | Playoffs 24 1 5 6 16 4
2024-25 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 56* 3* 30* 33* 53* 11* | Playoffs 19 4 9 13 38 10
2025-26 Florida Panthers “A” NHL 27* 1* 6* 7* 18* -6* |
Projected NHL 81* 3* 18* 21* 54* -18* |
2023-24 NHL stats powered by NHL.com

Aaron Ekblad Tournament Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
2013-14 OHL All-Stars Jr Super Series 2* 0* 0* 0* 0* 1* |
Canada U18 “C” Ivan Hlinka Memorial 5* 2* 3* 5* 4* 4* |

Aaron Ekblad Career Totals

League Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/- | Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/-
ALLIANCE U15 1 -* -* -* -* -* -* -* | 0 * * * * * *
ALLIANCE U16 1 30* 4* 30* 34* 1.13* 34* -* | 1 18 5 * 16 * 21 * 1.17 * 14 * - *
Ivan Hlinka Memorial (Hlinka Gretzky Cup) 1 5* 2* 3* 5* 1.00* 4* 4* | 0 * * * * * *
Jr Super Series 1 2* 0* 0* 0* 0.00* 0* 1* | 0 * * * * * *
NHL 12 759* 119* 268* 387* 0.51* 523* 90* | 6 83 8 * 25 * 33 * 0.40 * 87 * 21 *
OHL 3 175* 40* 76* 116* 0.66* 189* 31* | 3 44 11 * 17 * 28 * 0.64 * 50 * 6 *
WC 2 20* 5* 8* 13* 0.65* 12* 15* | 0 * * * * * *
WCup 1 1* 0* 0* 0* 0.00* 0* 0* | 0 * * * * * *
WHC-17 2 10* 3* 6* 9* 0.90* 8* -* | 0 * * * * * *
WJC-20 1 7* 1* 1* 2* 0.29* 2* 0* | 0 * * * * * *

Aaron Ekblad Career Highlights

Season
Awards by season
Transactions
DATE STATUS FROM TO SOURCE
06/30/2025
06/30/2025 Extension Florida Panthers Florida Panthers
07/01/2016
07/01/2016 Extension Florida Panthers Florida Panthers
09/03/2014
09/03/2014 Confirmed Barrie Colts Florida Panthers
Player Biography and Trivia

Drafted 2013, 5 #171 overall by Vityaz Podolsk in the KHL Draft

Drafted 2011, 1 #1 overall by Barrie Colts in the OHL Priority Selection

2014 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #1 by FCHockey

2014 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #3 by McKeen's Hockey

Cult/Star player for Barrie Colts

Cult/Star player for Florida Panthers

Cult/Star player for Sun County Panthers U16 AAA

On March 31, 2011, Aaron Ekblad was granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada to be eligible for the 2011 OHL Priority Selection. He was selected first overall.