Aaron Ekblad is back for a 12th season with the Florida Panthers.
Exblad and the Panthers agreed to a contract on Monday, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Ekblad had been scheduled to hit free agency after playing out the final season of his previous eight-year, $60 million deal with the Panthers.
He was suspended without pay for 20 games, including the beginning of the playoffs, for what the NHL announced was a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy.
The 29-year-old returned to post four goals and nine assists in 19 playoff games while skating 24 minutes per game on the top pairing to help the Panthers win a second straight Stanley Cup.
He had also contributed three goals and 30 assists in 23:31 per game through 56 regular-season games prior to his suspension.
Consecutive deep playoff runs left the Panthers with some tough decisions to make in free agency, including contract negotiations with center Sam Bennett.
Ekblad’s future with the franchise was also called into question by the midseason acquisition of Seth Jones, who is locked in for five more seasons following his trade from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito, who previously said the Jones trade wouldn’t stop the club from keeping “either one or both” defensemen, will now look to head into the 2025-26 season with Ekblad and Jones anchoring the team’s top two pairings.
Ekblad has played 505 regular-season games and 83 playoff games over 11 years with the Panthers since he was drafted by the franchise in the first round of the 2014 draft. He will likely continue seeing significant ice time during his age-30 season.