Panthers' Brad Marchand gets maybe-not-enough $4.5 million contract update after Aaron Ekblad signing

The Florida Panthers are bringing back Aaron Ekblad.

That's the good news.

But Brad Marchand? It's not clear that the Panthers left enough room to keep him.

The Panthers are looking at less than $5 million in salary cap space after the Ekblad deal. Most indications are that Marchand will go for more than that after his postseason heroics.

Two things could still get a Florida deal across the line for Marchand at $4.5 million per year.

The first: incentives. If the Panthers load up Marchand's contract with statistical performance incentives, that won't actually impact that base-level AAV.

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The second: state tax. Because Florida has no state income tax, that $4.5 million goes a longer way for Marchand than it would go in either Toronto or Boston, two other teams linked to him. Although if they offered him way more money, the tax aspect wouldn't necessarily be enough to offset it.

There's some speculation that the Panthers signed Ekblad finally because they don't believe they'll be keeping Marchand. That's very possible.

Even if not, it's going to be a very close shave if they do keep Marchand after that deal.

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