Aaron Ekblad

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Born
1996 (29 years old)
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Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Position
Defenceman

Status
Active

Ethnicity
White

Team Number
5

Height
193 cm

Weight
98 kg

Outfitter

Kit
Wage Year

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No Cutout thumb

Archive

Full Body Render

Sport

Ice Hockey

Team
Florida Panthers

League
NHL

Creative Commons Artwork
No

Description

Aaron Ekblad (born February 7, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Ekblad was selected first overall in the 2011 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) entry draft, and he was selected first overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut that year. In his first NHL season, Ekblad was selected for the 2015 NHL All-Star Game and earned the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie in the 2014–15 season.

Prior to joining the NHL, Ekblad played major junior hockey for the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League. He was granted "Exceptional Player" status unanimously by Hockey Canada, thus allowing him to play major junior a year early. Ekblad has played more games and scored more points than any other defenseman in Florida Panthers franchise history.

During Team Canada junior team's training camp in August 2014 in preparation for the upcoming 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in December 2014, Ekblad suffered a concussion in an exhibition game against the Czech Republic.

Ekblad played for Canada at the 2015 World Championships, where they won the gold medal for the first time since 2007 with a perfect 10-0 record.

Ekblad was invited to the play for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Team North America was a newly formed team that consisted of hockey players aged 23 or younger. He was later named an alternate captain along with Sean Couturier. During the tournament, he suffered an upper body injury and had to leave the team early.

On April 12, 2018, Ekblad was named to Team Canada's senior team to compete at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

Ekblad's brother Darien, a goaltender, was drafted into the OHL by the London Knights. Aaron Ekblad attended Innisdale Secondary School and was an honour roll student in the Simcoe County District School Board. Ekblad was born in Windsor, but grew up in Belle River, Ontario. His great-grandfather was Swedish, hence the last name "Ekblad".

During his rookie year Ekblad lived with veteran Willie Mitchell and his wife Megan.

Trophies