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Aaron Ekblad Suspended For PED Use
Aaron Ekblad Suspended For PED Use
Vibes were high in Florida after the Panthers acquired Brad Marchand and shocked the NHL world. Well… it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with the Panthers as they just got hit with some bad news on one of their better blue liners. Panthers’ alternate captain Aaron Ekblad was just suspended 20 games for PED use.
Frank Seravalli over at Daily Faceoff first revealed the news. The news includes a press release from the NHL.
“NEW YORK (March 10, 2025) – Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been suspended for 20 games, without pay, for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.”
“Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the suspension is accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment.”
“The National Hockey League will have no further comment on this matter.”
Ekblad, 29, is the first player to be suspended for PED use since Nate Schmidt in 2018, who hilariously enough is his teammate right now. The former first overall pick in 2014 will not be paid during that period of time.
On the season, Ekblad is a +11 through 56 games notching three goals and 30 assists. The positive news in all of this is that Florida has 18 regular season games remaining so his suspension won’t prevent him from missing much time during the postseason. Point being, the timing on this could have been much, much worse. The Seth Jones acquisition becomes that much more important as we head down the final stretch of the season.
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