On the heels of winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, the Florida Panthers continued to impress the hockey world by re-signing their three biggest pending unrestricted free agents entering the offseason: Sam Bennett , Brad Marchand , and Aaron Ekblad . Even more impressively, the Panthers were able to re-sign the latter two for deals well short of their projected value on the open market.

Still, it’s well known that Ekblad especially turned down some serious money to return to the only organization he’s ever known. In a new mailbag with James Mirtle of The Athletic , Mirtle claims that the Detroit Red Wings were ready and willing to give Ekblad a notable payday to move north for likely the remaining years of his professional career. While that may be tru

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