When the Vancouver Canucks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, it appears as though they will have a $7.26MM defenseman sitting in the press box. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was with Kyle Burroughs on the fourth pairing at the morning skate according to Patrick Johnston of The Province, with Travis Dermott taking his place next to Tyler Myers.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau was asked directly about it, and said scratching Ekman-Larsson was “potentially true” though did then go on to call him “arguably [their] best defenseman.”
Ekman-Larsson, 31, has been dreadful this season for the Canucks, who have been outscored 44-34 at even strength with him on the ice. Those 44 goals against put him 7th-worst in the entire league among defensemen, and the worst on Vancouver in particular.
Since arriving from the Arizona Coyotes in a massive 2021 trade, his goal-scoring has also dried up. A two-time 20-goal scorer, Ekman-Larsson has just six in 119 games since joining Vancouver.
What has happened to the Canucks this season isn’t all his fault, but he is emblematic of the problem the team faces. They are not competitive, and yet have plenty of long-term, big-money contracts on the books. The $7.26MM for Ekman-Larsson isn’t even his full contract – the Coyotes retained $990K per season when they dealt him. It extends through 2026-27, and includes a full no-movement clause that he would have to waive again to orchestrate any kind of exit (other than a buyout, which currently would extend through 2031).
The Canucks have more than $69MM committed to just 14 players for next season. That does not include Bo Horvat or Andrei Kuzmenko, who are both pending unrestricted free agents.
Jim Benning masterclass
And AZ got golden goal Guenther in the deal!
Yup. Even at the time, it was a “What is Vancouver THINKING?!?” to deal for an aging defenseman in noticeable decline with a horrid contract. They should have bought him out last season, but definitely should buy him out this coming one — it’s structured to have very little cap hit in 2023-24, which would help.
@NHA, sure only 2.3M cap hit for next year, then 4.7M for 2 years. Then 2.1M until the end of 2031 Its a hefty price tag.
I said at the time and still believe that the Canucks were so flattered that OEL listed them as one of the only two teams he’d go to that Benning only thought about how to get him, not whether he should.