Aaron Ekblad is a risky Owen Power partner idea for the Buffalo Sabres

Aaron Ekblad is a risky Owen Power partner idea for the Buffalo Sabres

last episode we talked about one Florida Panther as a Sabres option in free agency today another one what about Aaron Ecklad in free agency we’ll talk about the likely future free agent coming up here on the Locked On Sabres podcast you’re Locked On Sabres your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabres part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what is up everybody and welcome into this edition of the Locked on Sabers podcast here on a Friday and thanks for making us your first listen every day free and available wherever you get your podcast today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now new FanDuel customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins sneaky Joe Debiosi here on a Friday and we are through game four of the Stanley Cup final and it was an incredible game between those two teams the two best teams in the league and really might develop into a rivalry just in the fact that they’ve played 11 games here of finals hockey now and maybe they’ll play again in a future year it you know I’m having visions of Cavs Warriors in the middle of the 201s in the NBA and that became a rivalry because of how awesome those finals were these finals have been amazing a three nothing deficit overcome by Edmonton then Sam Reinhardt scores the second to latest game tying goal in Stanley Cup final history the latest by the way was Cory Perry in game two so you’ve had two moments like that overtimes every one of these games i mean hey for someone that gets up as early as I do that’s not great for me personally but for hockey fans it’s been incredible hockey and Edmonton tying the series you know shows us that we’re probably getting a seven game series but we’ll see series shifts back to Edmonton tomorrow by the way Jeff Skinner back in the lineup and uh a good thing because you had Taylor Swift in the building and then of course everyone having their fun on social media with the uh the picture from 15 years ago of Taylor Swift holding up a Jeff Skinner jersey next to Jeff Skinner um so you had a lot of good fun with that skinner also how about he was good last night i mean you know he’s Jeff Skinner he’s not going to give you a whole well-rounded game but he had scoring chances he almost had the gamewinner in overtime he could have had one or two before that he had the highest expected goals for percentage of any player in that game last night when he was on the ice the Oilers were getting chances and they had the puck in the offensive zone limited minutes so I think they did a good job protecting his minutes but I think he’s played well enough in three games of the playoffs to warrant staying in that lineup really I’ve I’ve always said I’ve understood why Skinner’s not in the lineup for Edmonton but the one game he played against LA in round one the game he played in the conference finals and then this game he played last night he’s played pretty well in all three so by his play I feel like he might stay in the lineup going forward here and he should over Victor Arvdson um the guy we’re going to talk about today as we talk free agent options for the Buffalo Sabres if you missed our last conversation we talked about one Florida Panther and Sam Bennett today we’re going to talk about Aaron Ecklad that will be our third free agent that we will talk about and before we get all in on Aaron Ecklad a couple of updates on the two guys we’ve always already talked about and Eblad as it pertains to free agency those are arguably the three biggest names you could argue whether Eklad is or not but he’s the guy we’ll talk about today so let’s start with the first guy we talked about and have talked about a lot mitch Marner mner’s leaving Toronto it’s kind of writing’s been on the wall but we have a definitive report now from Andy Strickland who does cover the St louis Blues but often will be plugged into the national landscape and he’s very plugged into Craig Bubet people around Craig Bubet who used to be the Blues coach and now he’s the Toronto coach remember Strickland was the one that reported that the Sabres were interested in Birub last summer and I believe him because he’s got sources close to him so I’d imagine this is coming from somewhere around Bub but Strickland reported today that it’s over that Marner will leave Toronto this summer that he is going to go elsewhere and again not stunning we’ve kind of been expecting that um and I full fully believe that report the other one we had today on Marner is that Carolina this is from Dave Pegnota of the fourth period carolina who showed interest in Marner at the deadline and tried to get that deal done and maybe if Mner waves no trade clause he does go there in a trade that the Hurricanes are prepping an offer of more than $14 million per year to land Marner in free agency now when we talked about him for the Sabres the Sabres are gonna probably have to have if they want to even be entertained as an option by Marner they’ll have to I think have the most money offered they like they have to outbid the rest and even then they probably still won’t get them but if you want to be in it you got to have the highest offer if Carolina’s going north of 14 million I mean look at the number we’re talking about if the Sabres have to have the number one bid it’s got to be like $16 million a year which is a sticker shock number and one that I would not expect the Pagoulas to be ready to put forward for him but that’s probably got to be the number if you want to be in the conversation for Mner is $16 million a year given that Carolina is going to be probably close to 15 million so that’s on Mner on Sam Bennett who we talked about on our last show the expectation is that Bennett and the Panthers are likely to extend this summer when he becomes a free agent um that was also from Pagnota pretty much locked in to stay in Florida deal around eight years $8 million per is being discussed um so there is uh there’s that on Bennett sounds like he’s staying with the Panthers probably can take him off the table as an option for all teams but including you know the Sabres if they were going to be in on that toronto specifically because I think Toronto would have really loved to have Sam Bennett we’ll see if that ends up being factual but it looks like I would I would expect that to be true now now on Aaron Ecklat who we are going to speak about today the report from EJ Ratic again we got a lot of people plugged in reporting on stuff um the the the word is that Eblad is likely heading to free agency florida wants him at less than his current AAV which is $7.5 million something in the six range so doesn’t sound like that is something that Eblad wants is to take a pay cut bennett is the one they’re prioritizing not Eblad and that is a factor in Eblad that we’ll talk about today and what level of player he still is but that also means that there’s going to be some bidding for Aaron Ecklad probably come next month edmonton Toronto Detroit all being mentioned as teams that would look for him what about the Sabres well before we get to the Sabres end of it what they would have to look at for him in a contract the fit what how you know how he would fit on the team with maybe Owen Power how good is Aaron Eblad still and there are a couple of things to get into on this on Eblad because he’s a tougher player to evaluate than some other defenseman because I don’t think it’s fair to say that his entire game at least his entire reputation is based on points and numbers there is a physical game with Aaron Ecklad there is a defensive game with Aaron Eckblad there is an expectation of him being a leader wherever he would go he wears a letter for that team he’s been with that team as long as anybody it’s him and Bararkov that have been there the longest um 11 years that first overall pick back in 2014 he was the Panthers pick there and he’s been with them the whole time this guy’s played a lot of hockey this is not about what he was as a player this is about what he is now how good is he still i think you have serious questions about how good of a player Aaron Ecklad is because his body might just not be right anymore and I have concerns going forward about any team signing him to a long-term contract when this guy’s had a couple concussions he has had a lot of upper body lower body stuff that we don’t really know about because it’s a little unspecific on that front he was carded off and missed the season with a broken leg a couple of years ago this year 56 games previous year 51 71 61 35 that’s his last five years so you know he’s missing almost 50 games then he’s missing 20 then he’s missing 10 then he’s missing 30 and this year he missed 20 20 so or so different reason suspension peed suspension his game appeared to be trending up you know I listen to the Dan Leard show a lot out of Miami and they talk a lot of Florida Panthers because they’re right there and they’re all big Panther fans and what I heard from them during the middle of the season when this was happening was that Eblad had been like Arrow was had been pointing down on him that he had not been the same player in recent years that he had been early in his career still a fine player but not like a number one defenseman like maybe you thought he was at one point in time you know made a couple of all-star teams early on in his career he wasn’t giving you that and part of it was his body was breaking down guy’s played a lot of minutes he’s played a physical style 18,000 minutes over 18,000 minutes in his NHL career between the regular season and the playoffs he’s played a lot of hockey a lot of physical hockey for his size and his body maybe was starting to break down well this year he wasn’t getting injured and he was playing better both ends of the ice and then he got hit with his peed suspension and listening to the Levit show about that I remember them saying like “Oh well this kind of explains it a little bit doesn’t it?” Like how did Aaron Ecklad suddenly start staying healthier and his game improve well listen you know guys take stuff to make their bodies feel better and feel right and perform at the highest level and for Eklad maybe that is why he had some you know more success this year in some areas of his game than he had had the previous season so he gets hit with that peed suspension then he comes back and he’s been pretty darn good in the playoffs i mean the offense has certainly jumped up for him he’s playing 24 minutes a night he’s laying the body he took McDavid out of game three right with that hit that he had at the blue line so I think what you have in Eblad is a player where the biggest question is about injuries and will he hold up we’ll get more though on the numbers on how good Ecklad is and then what it’s going to take to get him for any team in free agency coming up here on the Lockdown Savers podcast today’s episode of the Lockdown Savers podcast is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook we’re into the finals both for hockey and for the NBA and the NBA playoffs when you get to this end man it’s it’s awesome there you get highlight worthy performances legendary moments that you’ll never forget game-winning shots breakout players there’s never been a better time to get in on the action and FanDuel makes it easy to stay in the game before tip off and live with player props performance trends same game parlays fans have more ways than ever to play smart and win big so you could look at in terms of tonight overunders on SGA i kind of like the over on SGA because I think the series is waiting for somebody to take it over so you know that’s what I’ll be looking at for tonight’s game is SGA he likes to get to the free throw line so more specifically I’d like to get a little over on that free throw number but of course you got some great action for the Oilers and the Panthers as well so take a look at that because right now best time to to get in on this 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they’ll only anything below 50 they just say below 50 but for instance 20 to 22 mph speed bursts this season for defenseman the average in the NHL is 28 eblad had 10 this season so below average on that front and listen we just saw him get his ankles broken by Conor McDavid in game four mcdavid almost scoring the goal of the playoffs so far listen I don’t want to blast a guy from getting for getting his ankles broken by Conor McDavid anybody in the league can have that happen to them but that’s not a matchup that I necessarily love for Florida is when Eklad is out there against McDavid because it does show one of his limitations now is it so preventative that it makes him a terrible player no I don’t think so but you know you might want to pair him up with a guy who’s a smooth skater at least if not an elite skater on the blue line which we’ll get to maybe you think Owen Power is at least the smooth skater um for that so the skating is not necessarily there for Eblad his defensive game does leave a little bit to be desired he’s not like the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL there are some numbers that kind of point to you know this line actually gives up a lot of chances when he’s out there so with Eblad I don’t I I think you have a gap here between maybe how good he is and what his reputation is i think he does give you some good offensively but think a team is going to convince themselves this is kind of similar to the Bennett conversation from our last show a team is going to convince themselves that this guy is going to come in and be you know the because how was he described as a prospect how is was he early in his career remember this is the dude with a full beard at 18 years old he looked like he was 35 when he was 18 you know this is like this guy was a described as a horse for you and when you hear him described that way it’s oh this is going to be my stay-at-home shutdown elite defenseman and he’s not that to that degree think a team’s going to convince themselves that oh he’s going to come in and be my shutdown defenseman and I think he might leave some to be desired and again to the injury part part of it with no peeds in his system going forward assumed um if his body doesn’t hold up playing that style what good is it you I’m thinking of Matias Samson a little bit for this Matias Samuelson you know tries to well does he try probably doesn’t try hard enough but the physical style he’s a big body he blocks a lot of shots but he also gets injured all the time so the style he wants to play his body can’t hold up through that so something’s got to give there and with Eklad I really do wonder as he enters his 30s you know is it smart idea to give that guy a six sevenyear contract i’m skeptical i’m skeptical of that because I think he’s a good player but I don’t think he’s a great great defenseman in the NHL i think on a what is he right now in the Panthers on a good team on a great team he’s a second pair defenseman he’s gonna have suitors toronto is one of them detroit is one of them we’ve had a couple of teams that have already been mentioned for this and I think he’s going to get a good number now and you can kind of connect the dots here if Florida wants to keep him but for less than he’s making now and he’s likely to go to free agency well that would speak to he doesn’t want to take that pay cut he’s going to want at least that number that he’s making now $7.5 million i could see Toronto being willing to give him that detroit has been very willing to pay for free agents you know even midlevel free agents remember Andrew Cop a couple of years ago and JT Compar and David Piron and I mean mid-season Patrick Kane like Detroit’s been willing to pay the price to get veteran free agents to come in i would expect that a team like that is willing to pay the price to get Aaron Eckblad and honestly I’m I’m a little bit torn but I would lean towards the side of hoping the Sabres do not make a giant offer to Aaron Ecklad it would it would be filed under hey listen they’re not sitting on their hands they’re trying they’re trying to get The one area of it I like the most is the Owen Power partner of it and we’ll get to that but I wouldn’t want to crucify them for going all in an airplane because it would be a it would finally be some motivation to get good right now that we haven’t seen enough of but is it a smart investment and if you told me it’s going to cost you like $7.5 million over five or six years for Aaron Ecklad I would not consider that a very smart investment because of the injury history because of the little bit of decline we’ve had as a player and again on Florida he does play big minutes um but I don’t think he’s that team’s best defenseman i don’t even know that he’s one of that team’s three best defenseman if you had me power rank who their best defenseman are the most meaningful defenseman forsling to me is number one I honestly might go Nico Mikola and Seth Jones number two and three eblad’s in that tier at least you could argue Eblad is the second best guy and he plays with Forsling um so he is playing on the top pair but I think he’s probably that team’s fourth best defenseman still good but to that point wouldn’t he be the third best defenseman on the Buffalo Sabres and isn’t that pretty good let’s go to that the fit if this was to be something that excites Kevin Adams and he were to go all in on it and he got it done where would Eblad fit on the Buffalo Sabres well that part of it actually might be the the bit the best defense for going after because it’s very natural to see him in this lineup i think we’ll get to that coming up on Locked on Sabers today’s episode of the Locked On Sabers podcast is presented by Indeed so you just realized that your business needed to hire somebody like yesterday well how can you find amazing candidates fast well easy just use Indeed when it comes to hiring Indeed is all you need stop struggling to get your job post seen on 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mentality changing the culture playing on a Stanley Cup champion maybe he’s a back-to-back champion by the time that happens and coming to be a veteran presence on a team maybe even wear a letter right away for the Buffalo Sabres that’s all well and good i could argue it’s very well needed and that the young guys on this team it would be a good influence on them to have Aaron Ecklad in that locker room that’s not enough for me to want to sign him to that contract but I do think it’s valuable to some extent i’m more interested in what he could do for Owen Power what would it be like to have Aaron Ecklad on that right side with Owen Power and even though I’ve I’ve a little bit more pessimistic on what level of player you’re still getting out of Aaron Ecklad at this point I do think that the most exciting part of that this idea is the idea of putting him with Owen Power eblad’s a right shot defenseman you could have him play on his natural right side you could have power play on the left put him with Owen Power let that cook let power ride into the into the next season with the guy they’ve been looking for for three years a veteran experienced defenseman an upgrade over the guy that Powers played the most minutes with in his saber career which was Henry Yokiharu and as much as I might not be super high on Eblad as a player no doubt he is leaps and bounds better than Henry Yokiharu is and again the mentoring that maybe he could give Power a little bit both being number one overall picks um if that matters at all you know what the expectations are like how you deal with that p’s Power is probably fine with that at this point right he’s a very mellow guy you know he’s not being met with like this total package of expectations i think he’s a little bit polarizing but it’s not like you know fans are banging down the door mad at him um but I do think Eblad would be a positive influence on Power how they would fit on the ice is more interesting to me i don’t I I think I would I wouldn’t assume that they would be a perfect fit because Eblad again like that stayathome type of defenseman i don’t really know if that really is his game i mean it is to some extent but he does like to jump up and play he does like to contribute offensively and power is somebody that likes to control the game and he likes to jump up once in a while so maybe they would have a symbiotic relationship of knowing who’s going up when and you know kind of going back and forth like when Diene and Byum kind of play together i’ve always felt that they’re they’ve always been very on top of who’s going up who’s coming back because both guys are very active um maybe Power and Eblad would develop that as well they’d certainly be a big pairing right power at 66 he’ll continue to grow into his body 6’5 and Eblad at 6’4 220 you’d certainly have a big second pairing um but I would absolutely I don’t think this is a question you would see him playing with power you know I I would almost never expect to see him within the thing you would have now on the Sabres blue line assuming like a Boyum trade would come in concert with this is our focus this off season was we’re going to get Owen Power most more support to take the next step and we’re going to trust Dalene to play with a midlevel partner and still get elite results we’re going to trust Dene to carry a I don’t want not a bad defenseman but maybe like an average defenseman and then maybe Samuelson i would hope to do better than that i hope he gets bought out and we’re going to put an experienced talented guy like Aaron Eckled with Owen Power to get the best results out of him again wouldn’t assume that would work but I think that would be your plan the summary the summary for me it’s not the worst idea in the world i think there are better ideas we are with all this in in in hindsight like getting power a better partner one of the number one ticketed items I think for the Sabres this offseason I do think there are better options we’ll talk about some of those options whether it’s Gavricov whether it’s Keandre Miller whether it is Dmitri Orofav like these guys these are just some of the free agents i’m not saying all these guys would be better than Eblad but there are going to be options for the Sabres this summer if they’re looking for an Owen Power partner it’s not Aaron Ecklad or Bust i don’t think they have to be desperate for him because I think they’ll find their way to somebody else um there are enough guys like that on the market right now you know Orlav I kind of even jumped a little bit further down the list dante Fabro is one of these guys brian Dumlain is a veteran that becomes a free agent ivan Proarov um like these are some of the names that are going to become free agents and we’ll talk about a lot of them coming up in the next couple of weeks as we head to free agency so Eblad one of them but I’m not necessarily sure I’d put him right at the top all right game five tomorrow night the series has been awesome jj Purka by the way there was a rumor today about him in Calgary we’ll talk about that next week not that he likes Calgary but that Calgary is interested in him i don’t think that makes a lot of sense though uh for the Sabres or Purka so you know Calgary I don’t know what Calgary is doing i don’t think Purka would be excited by that idea even if he did want to leave so there’s that want more on Oilers and Panthers check out locked on NHL game night they have you covered all through this series until we get a champ between Florida and Edmonton find Lockdown NHL game night on Lockdown NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast we’ll talk to you on Monday here on the Lockdown Sabres podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad will likely become a free agent in a couple weeks, headlining the available defensemen in the NHL. A veteran of 11 years, and a Stanley Cup Champion, should the Sabres go all-in on Ekblad to make him the Owen Power-partner they’ve been looking for?

Sneaky Joe looks at Ekblad’s play over recent years, his injury history, and what a contract would look like to evaluate how good of an idea he is for the Sabres.

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