It’s not the baby faces or different hair Aaron Ekblad mentions about a photo from his 2014 draft, the one passed around the Florida Panthers’ plane before this Stanley Cup Final of that year’s top four picks, in order: Ekblad, Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett.

“We were all laughing about how bad our shoes were,’’ he said.

The chances of the four top picks having big careers is rare. Three of them being Panthers is rarer still and speaks of the assembling of talent on this team. And meeting the fourth, Draisaitl, the star Edmonton forward, for a second straight final?

“Amazing,’’ Ekblad said.

The photo introduces something that isn’t a central part of this series, too, but comes into play immediately when it ends. That’s the cost of winning. And the decisions that go into continuing to win like the Panthers plot.

Bennett and Ekblad are free agents coming up, and, again, it’s not a topic that Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday could be their final home games. But it has been a so-subtle part of this Panthers playoff run at times if you pay close attention.

Take how Toronto fans and media erupted when some Panthers discussed the intense, inbred pressure dumped on that hockey-mad market’s players after the Panthers beat them in the second round.

“Crazy, circus stuff,’’ Matthew Tkachuk called what Toronto’s players go through.

He didn’t need to add the beach bingo the Panthers play by comparison. But all that wasn’t just for Toronto consumption. Two Panthers in that photo, Bennett and Ekblad, hit free agency when this series ends. What better way for a team like Toronto to reshape its culture than get a player like Bennett?

Every team wants Bennett right now. He leads the league with 13 playoff goals. He also packs the kind of violent punch that can change a team’s culture — or help define it as in the Panthers’ case. And he’s been in bad situations, like after being drafted by Calgary.

So, he understands who the Panthers are and what he’s a part of but said he hasn’t thought of free agency during the playoffs.

Ekblad, a Panthers lifer, has thought about it, at least when asked before this series.

“I live and breathe for the Florida Panthers,’’ he said. “I bleed for the Florida Panthers. I’ve given my body and everything to this team. I want to keep doing it forever — for as long as they let me come to the rink.”

Ekblad has lived all the change through the years, from the kid to the man, from the unintentional comedy of a bad franchise to one on the verge of a dynasty. He’s been a defensive cornerstone throughout, with 11 points in 15 games and second on the team only to Seth Jones in per-game ice time these playoffs.

He really has given up his body along the way. Two springs ago, in the Panthers run to the playoffs, his body was a mess in ways that made him stronger in the overcoming, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

“He broke his foot, (partially dislocated) one shoulder, separated the other shoulder, tore his oblique and had a partial concussion — and played for the most part right through it,’’ Maurice said. “I think at that point in time, that’s when his game evolved.”

Ekblad missed the opening weeks last season but was a central part of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run. This season has been a “bit of a roller coaster,’’ he said. He was injured in January, then suspended the final 18 regular-season games and opening two playoff contests after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance he said he unknowingly took to return from injury.

Will that affect the coming business? It is business on both sides, too. The Panthers have $19 million to spend this offseason to rank 16th in available money. That tells how well they’ve managed contracts in riding to a third straight Stanley Cup Final.

More decisions are in the mix right now too. It’s not just Bennett and Ekblad. Brad Marchand is a free agent among the core Panthers, too. The entire fourth line is on one-year contracts. It’s part of the business to know what’s waiting when this series ends.

“You’re playing for your life, right now in a sense,’’ Ekblad said. “So, it’s been a fun experience playing in a contract year, and I’m happy with the way things have gone.”

Last spring, Sam Reinhart hoisted the Cup in late June and signed a contract a week later, the day before free agency started July 1. Can a repeat happen all the way around this year?

These two games in Sunrise will be dramatic. That’s a given. So is the fact they might be the final games with this team for some of its biggest stars, too.

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