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Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
I mean I think that's literally why they went out and got Jones...to replace Ekblad in his role. I don't think they want to take the risk of Ekblad's body holding up long term.
It's either that or free agency. They have $19 million in cap next year without a lot of key free agents coming off the books (Bennett and Ekblad would be the biggest). They already have a top 4 in Forsling, Jones, Mikkola, and Kulikov, with Balinskis as a 5th. They could easily land a big name to plunk in as a #3 and be done. Gavrikov, Lindgren, and Provorov all sound like potential options to me, but I suspect there might be a bit of a bidding war for all three of those guys (assuming none of them are re-signed by their current club).
I could just as easily see them re-signing Ekblad to a 4-5 year deal at around the same AAV.
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Yeah Jones gives them an option on Ekblad, to either take a team friendly deal or walk as a UFA. But it does create a hole for them again if that happens and they don't have a lot of assets to give up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts
Let me introduce you to Rasmus Andersson. All he costs is your 2027 1st and 2028 2nd and Marki Samoskevich.
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Andersson would be definitely something that Florida could look at, if Ekblad walks. I don't think you'll be able to get Samoskevich though, he's showing really good progress after starting the year on the fourth line and now playing on the second with Bennett and Tkachuk. Zito doesn't care a damn about picks though.