SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand has been a member of the Florida Panthers for less than four months, but the forward, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, has seen enough to make him not want to leave.

“These are the best few months I have ever had in my career,’’ the 37-year-old said Friday. “It’s an incredible group down here. I’ve loved every second of it, and hopefully it can continue.’’

He’s not the only one; forward Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy, voted as Stanley Cup Playoffs most valuable player, and longtime Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad are also pending UFAs and have expressed a desire to stay.

“That’s part of who I am at this point,’’ Ekblad said during exit day at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. “I’ve spent 11 years here, and that’s more than I’ve spent in any home or city in my life. So it’s home, and I expect it to be home.”

Ekblad said contract negotiations are ongoing with the Panthers, though it is believed Florida’s top priority is getting Bennett’s contract done first.

“Conversations have been had, obviously nothing material yet,” Ekblad said. “But they’ll be working on it. Things seem to come down to the last minute here.’’

Florida selected Ekblad with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, and a Panthers uniform has been the only one he has worn since. Bennett was selected by the Calgary Flames with the No. 4 pick in that same draft.

Selected by the Panthers with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad is second in games played in Florida history with 732 behind center Aleksander Barkov (804). He’s first among all Panthers defensemen in goals (118), assists (262) and points (380).

This season, he had 33 points (three goals, 30 assists) in 56 regular-season games and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 postseason games. He was suspended 20 games on March 10 for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, a ban that carried over to the first two games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Not long after Florida put the finishing touches on its second straight Cup title with a 5-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Final on Tuesday, Panthers general manager Bill Zito told Sportsnet he thinks the Panthers can retain the services of Marchand, Bennett and Ekblad.