The Vancouver Canucks have made the first buyout of the summer, announcing that they have bought out defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Ekman-Larsson had four years left on an eight-year $66MM contract he signed with the Arizona Coyotes in July of 2018, but with the buyout it will allow the 31-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent where he will be free to start fresh with any team he chooses. Ekman-Larsson posted two goals and 20 assists this past season in 54 games with the Canucks while averaging 20 minutes of ice time a night.
Vancouver will free up some desperately needed cap space as they head into a summer where they will be trying to sign star forward Elias Pettersson to a long-term contract extension. The Canucks will save $7.1MM in cap space this season with the buyout and $4.9MM next year. They will save $2.5MM the two years after that and then have a cap charge of $2.13MM for four years.
While it is an expensive penalty to pay, it was a necessary move for the Canucks. Ekman-Larsson’s play has fallen off a cliff in recent years as the once elite defender has struggled since the 2019-20 season. There was a time when it was a given that he would play 25 minutes a night, put up 40-50 points a season and post terrific underlying numbers. But those days are long gone and his play as of late is more in line with that of a third pairing defenseman. The Karlskrona, Sweden native hasn’t posted 30 points since the 2019-20 season and hasn’t posted much in the way of positive analytics since that time.
Ekman-Larsson’s fall from elite status is surprising, but the buyout may not be the worst thing in the world for him. His salary forced him to play up in the lineup in a spot that was probably asking too much given where his skillset is at. With the buyout he could find a situation where he is paid like a 5-6 defenseman and deployed like one too. This could ultimately lead to a bit of a resurgence for Ekman-Larsson. However, if another team offers to pay him like a 3-4 defenseman based on name recognition, they may be disappointed with the results that they see, not unlike the Ryan Suter situation with the Dallas Stars.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the buyout.
Arrest Jim Benning for that trade
HOLY MOLY!!!!!!!!! Billy Guerin would be proud!!!
Somebody will pay him $3M for 2 yrs for a placeholder. Hawks, Ducks come to mind
Ducks? No! They already lead the league in bad defensemen. Don’t need another unless they’re planning to win the lottery next season.
@NativeAmerican—They planned on winning it this year, though! Bettman & Daly might fix it so they pick 33rd next year. :(
Future Flyer
Sheesh 8 years of dead cap on that.
@Tom Emansk1 – “Misery loves company”, signed BIll Guerin.
Vancouver needed to free up cash for a number 3 center.
The love affair many GM’s have with Dmen like OEL is always puzzling.
I remember people saying it was ridiculous that Arizona “gave” Ekman Larsson away. The reality is that they saved themselves from this big time. And to be fair he’s not even useless. He was just massively overpaid on that contract.
Nah man he was useless this year. Empty points, worst +/- on the team and did not pass the eye test.
Would have to disagree. As a Yotes season ticket holder, he was useless and still is. Thank God for Jim Benning!
Turned out to be a solid move for the yotes.
Also, there can’t be many season ticket holders left, can there? It’s like being a shareholder in Radio Shack.
OEL has played on some terrible teams over the last few years, and even then has shown a few flashes here and there of what he once was. I don’t think he’ll get to those heights consistently again, but I wont be surprised if he makes a big jump in the right spot and actually outplays his next contract, like Shattenkirk in Tampa.
Was actually thinking he might be a good D signing for Tampa. Can play sheltered mins on 3rd pair or be extra. Should be cheap.