2017-18 Season Rewind: Aaron Ekblad

SUNRISE, Fla. -Aaron Ekblad added a new element to his game in the 2017-18 campaign.
Having already proven himself as one of the league's top-offensive talents on the blue line, the 22-year-old defenseman took on a new role with the Florida Panthers this season, teaming up with veteran Keith Yandle to form the team's top-defensive pairing.

With 38 percent of his 5-on-5 faceoffs coming in the defensive zone -- up from 28.4 percent in 2016-17 -- the former first-overall pick played some of the biggest minutes of his young career this season, tasked with shutting down opposing teams' top lines on almost a nightly basis.
Ekblad's 1,917:54 of ice time were second to only Yandle on the Panthers, and far more than the 1,766:37 he posted during his Calder Trophy-winning season in 2014-15. Of those minutes, a team-high 183:49 came on the penalty kill and 174:23 came on the power play.
As his minutes increased, however, so did the opportunity for mistakes to be made. Ekblad was on the ice for a team-high 67 goals against at 5-on-5, but still managed to finish with a goals for percentage of 51.09 - the third-best mark among Panthers defensemen.
Ekblad also set new career highs in takeaways (40) and blocked shots (121).
"It was more of an offensive role he had before," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said of Ekblad's growth in February, per the Sun Sentinel. "Now, he's becoming a better two-way defenseman."
Still, despite his adjustments defense, Ekblad's offense didn't seem to suffer.
With 16 goals, Ekblad not only led all Panthers defenseman in goal scoring, but also finished in a tie for fourth in the NHL, besting the likes of Roman Josi (14), Brent Burns (12) and Drew Doughty (10). Of those 16 goals, five came on the power play and four were game winners.
As he continues to adapt to his new un-sheltered surroundings, Ekblad should only get better.

COOL STAT

In the blink of an eye, Ekblad has become one of Florida's most-relied upon penalty killers.
After never averaging more than a minute on the penalty kill prior to this season, Ekblad saw a team-high 2:15 of shorthanded ice time per game this season. Amazingly, the 183:49 he spent killing penalties this season was also more than his first three seasons in the league combined.
While on the penalty kill, Ekblad also did quite a bit of damage offensively. The Panthers scored the third-most shorthanded goals in the league this season (10) and Ekblad was on the ice for a team-high seven of them.
With Ekblad on the ice, the Panthers had a .912 save percentage on the penalty kill.

BEST GAME

Ekblad notched a goal and an assist to help lead the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 3 at BB&T Center.
Ekblad opened the scoring for the Panthers, cutting through a pair of Red Wings defensemen into the slot before sending a backhand over Petr Mrazek's shoulder to give Florida a 1-0 lead at 3:14 of the first period. The goal was his 10th of the season and fourth in nine games.
"We're rolling," Ekblad said after the win. "The consistency's there. We've got to keep our compete up, keep battling and we're going to be fine."

GOAL OF THE YEAR

This one sent Twitter into a frenzy.
After collecting a loose puck near the top of the slot, Ekblad cut through the defense with a huge toe drag before lifting a backhander over goaltender Antti Niemi's shoulder to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead over the Montreal Canadiens on March 19.
"I was cheating a little bit there," Ekblad said of the play. "I'm sure we'll look at the video and see maybe I should have stayed out, [but] it worked out. I got [the puck] on the backhand, pulled it across my forehand and then back and got a good goal there."