Despite on-Ice Maturity, Panthers' Aaron Ekblad Still Very Much a Teen at Home

“What the (hell) was I thinking? On the record: What the (hell) was I thinking? Want to start the piece that way?”

Perhaps the only thing more challenging than being an 18-year-old in the NHL is living with one. Just ask Florida Panthers defenseman Willie Mitchell.

“He hasn’t washed his sheets and we’re into February here,” Mitchell said. “He’s 18 years old. Isn’t that what they do?”

Mitchell and his wife, Megan, have served this season as surrogate parents/friends to Panthers rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the first pick in the 2014 draft who turned 19 on Feb. 7. Don’t take the affable Mitchell too seriously when he’s venting about a houseguest failing to clean or do laundry, as he sounds like any fully formed adult living with an evolving teenager.

"He’s been a real easy addition to our household,” Mitchell said.

The same can be said about Ekblad to the Panthers lineup.

Depending on your personal opinion, Ekblad is either the favorite for the Calder Trophy or at the very least a finalist for the NHL’s top rookie honors. He is tied for fifth in rookie scoring with nine goals and 32 points, trailing forwards Johnny Gaudreau, Filip Forsberg, Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman.

Among defensemen with any NHL experience entering this season, Ekblad’s 32 points tied for 25th, on par with St. Louis’ Alex Pietrangelo and two more than Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Yeah, every team gets an All-Star, but Ekblad was more than the token choice for this year's showcase in Columbus.

If fancy stats are more your speed, Ekblad’s 52.6 unblocked shot attempt percentage is third on the team behind Brian Campbell and Brady Boyes. That number isn’t coming in sheltered minutes, either, as Ekblad is routinely facing top-six forwards while playing 22:21 a night, second on the team and most among rookies to play at least 40 games.

Mitchell may not think the world of Ekblad’s willingness to complete household chores, but, as biased as he may be as a friend and teammate, he thinks there isn’t a rookie that rivals Ekblad.

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

“I love the kid, and so it’s tough to…” Mitchell says as he trails off, well aware his opinion isn’t the least objective. “Hands down, I think he should be rookie of the year. At 18 years old, people don’t understand how hard that is. It’s 18 to play in the NHL is one thing, to succeed at high levels is another, to be one of the best players on your team is another and to do it at a position that’s the hardest position to break into the NHL on defense, is special.

“We’re working really hard and we’ve had a tough stretch here to get into the playoffs and we don’t stand a chance if we don’t have him. The ability to play against top two lines every night at 18 years old and not be a liability is just unheard of. That’s what’s special.”

The Panthers have been ninth in the East for what seems like an eternity, chasing a revolving cast of teams that includes the Rangers, Capitals and currently the Bruins, who hold a two-point edge on the Panthers for the final wild-card spot. And having an 18/19-year-old who looks and plays like someone who is 26 years old—“Maybe he is,” quipped Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle—is a prevailing reason the Panthers have playoff life in mid-February.

At 6'4", 216 pounds, it’s easy to see why Boyle and others can’t treat Ekblad like your typical, scrawny 19-year-old. Ekblad is built to weather the rigors of an 82-game season. Want to dump the puck and pound Ekblad? Go for it. He can take a hit and he can dish them.

“I’ve been fairly good at protecting myself to this point,” Ekblad said. “There’s a lot of guys in this league that can hit that are big and strong. You have to know where they are on their ice and when they’re coming for you.”

Not only is Ekblad a teenager in a grown man’s body, but his hockey sense makes him appear to be a seasoned veteran most nights. Sure, he’ll make that occasional rookie mistake of holding the blue line when he should retreat, but he’s on the right side of the puck enough that it’s easy to forget that, in a lot of ways, he’s still just a kid.

There’s another aspect of Ekblad that belies his age, according to Mitchell.

“The kid doesn’t sleep,” Mitchell said. “I’m serious. He doesn’t sleep. Most 18-year-olds, all you do is sleep all day, right? Go to bed early, sleep late, afternoon naps, all that. He doesn’t sleep. He likes to say he took a page out of (Jaromir) Jagr’s book. ‘Jagr only sleeps when he feels like he should.’ That’s what he does. I’m dead serious. He’ll sleep six hours a night. That’s it.”

What’s Ekblad doing awake at all hours of the night? What’s he doing on game days when everyone else is scrapping for a nap?

“He’s a big movie buff,” Mitchell said. “He’ll watch TV, watch movies. I can’t imagine. I still need my hour-and-a-half afternoon nap. He doesn’t even have a nap in the afternoon. He’s like, ‘If I feel like it, I will. If I fall asleep watching a movie, I will. But I usually don’t. I don’t need the sleep.’

“I just find that absolutely nuts and crazy. Because when you think about when we were all 18, we were just sleep, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep. It works for him.”

Before drafts, most players will give a stock answer about not caring where they are drafted. “It doesn’t matter where you are drafted; all that matters is what you do after you’re drafted,” is the general, safe answer. “Hockey is the ultimate team sport,” all players say, which is sometimes code for, “Don’t act like you’re bigger than the team, especially before you get there.”

After Ekblad was taken No. 1, something he coveted, he said, per The Associated Press (h/t ESPN), “That is the burden of expectation. I chase it. I want that burden of expectation. I want that feel for motivation and I want to succeed under that."

There’s a fine line between confident and cocky, and erring too far to the latter can get you ostracized; just ask Evander Kane about that. Ekblad has been toeing that line this season, as a 19-year-old can’t succeed to this degree without having complete and utter belief in one’s self.

If that belief gets to be too strong, that’s where Mitchell comes in.

“Yeah, he’ll talk a little bit, but to be 18 and that good you have to be confident, which he is,” Mitchell said. “So sometimes I have to reel him in on that.”

Not that Ekblad minds.

“If you surround yourself with guys who work hard, you’re going to do well,” Ekblad said. “I’m in here trying to surround myself with guys like Mitchie, guys who work really hard on and off the ice.”

Ekblad and Mitchell’s May-December relationship is indicative of the Panthers roster as a whole. With five players 22 or younger and six players 33 or older, the locker room looks like a waiting area for a Twilight reboot casting call with the actors driven there by their dads.

That diversity allows for the best of both worlds for Ekblad’s development. There isn’t a feeling of isolation, and there are enough veterans to keep young players in place. 

Eric Staal had a much different environment when he came into the league as an 18-year-old with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003. 

“When I started, I think the next-oldest guy when I was playing was 25,” said Staal, referring to Jesse Boulerice. “Nowadays, it’s not like that. Most teams have 18- or 22- or 23-year-old guys. Everyone’s in the same boat.

“I chummed around. I remember going to dinner with Ron Francis (who was 40 years old then and is now Carolina’s general manager). Those guys kept me in the loop. It was different. I didn’t feel any less part of the team. It was just my life was different from their lives. They had kids and families and I was … figuring it out.”

Ekblad seems to have a lot figured out already.

Consider for a moment where Ekblad’s season ranks among freshly drafted defensemen and it’s understandable why he has such a high opinion of his game.

Among defensemen to make the immediate jump to the NHL after they were drafted, only 15 have registered more points in that first season than Ekblad, who still has 22 more games to add to his total. With a strong finish, Ekblad could have the fourth-most points in a season of any first-year, teenage defenseman in the nearly 100-year history of the league, trailing only Larry Murphy, Phil Housley and Ray Bourque.

Player	Season	Team	Goals	Assists	Points
Larry Murphy*	1980-81	LAK	16	60	76
Phil Housley	1982-83	BUF	19	47	66
Raymond Bourque*	1979-80	BOS	17	48	65
Bryan Berard	1995-96	NYI	8	40	48
Tyler Myers	2009-10	BUF	11	37	48
Dave Babych	1980-81	WIN	6	38	44
Bobby Orr*	1966-67	BOS	13	28	41
Cam Fowler	2010-11	ANA	10	30	40
Bob Hess	1974-75	STL	9	30	39
Craig Redmond	1984-85	LAK	6	33	39
Bruce Bell	1984-85	QUE	6	31	37
Michael Del Zotto	2009-10	NYR	9	28	37
Glen Wesley	1987-88	BOS	7	30	37
Erik Johnson	2007-08	STL	5	28	33
Paul Coffey*	1980-81	EDM	9	23	32
Aaron Ekblad	2014-15	FLA	9	23	32

If Ekblad can reach the 49-point mark, it will represent the best single-season total of any 18-year-old defensemen in 32 years.

And, oh yeah, in case you forgot, he’s doing it against top competition every night.

“I know everyone talks about his great shot and he has a great shot from the point and he always finds a way of getting it to the net,” Mitchell said. “The thing that always amazes me is his defensive play.”

And this is all coming from someone who isn’t all that big on changing his sheets.

“He’s kind of spoiled a bit,” Mitchell said. “My wife went to culinary school so he’s spoiled that way for sure.

“You have to be conscious of doing the right thing because we’re not billets. We’re friends. And friends who are older and have done a few things so maybe you want to make sure you do the right things so you’re not taking care of him, that you’re helping him. Grow up, be a man.

“It’s not where you’re cooking for him every night, sometimes he has to cook on his own, learn how to cook. Go get groceries, do your laundry, get your dry cleaning, do stuff like that. It’s been a good learning experience because we don’t have any kids. It’s been really good for us as far as talking to people and how to do it the right way. I hope we have. I think he’s enjoying it.

“We’ve really, really enjoyed it to be honest."

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

It’s not just Mitchell providing guidance. Hall of Fame defensemen Denis Potvin and Bobby Orr are big parts of Ekblad’s life. Potvin is in his first season working on Panthers television for Fox Sports Florida while Orr is Ekblad’s agent.

“Three different generations, you could say,” Ekblad said during All-Star weekend in Columbus. “They are all friends of mine and all have different advice, day in and day out. I see Bobby quite a bit because he lives in Florida. Every day me and Willie break everything down, when it comes to the games and practices. I learn a lot from him. Mr. Potvin is always in the room for media stuff, and we often talk off the record about different things.

“It’s a good support system to have, that’s for sure.”

On Orr, Ekblad said: “He’s always there, always a friend. Someone you can lean on, and someone you can talk to about the game, or about life in general.”

So that’s two Hall of Famers and a Stanley Cup-winning veteran defenseman at Ekblad’s fingertips, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Are there any other benefits to living with Mitchell?

“He cooks a good sandwich, but his wife all around takes care of everything like that,” Ekblad said. “They’ve made my transition very comfortable. It’s really helped me.”

If these are the results from living with the Mitchell family, maybe the Panthers should consider having all their future draft picks live there.

All statistics via NHL.com and Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com. 

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.