June 22nd, 2023
Zach Mason
This past Friday, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced that the team had bought out the remainder of Swedish defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s contract. The final four years of the Swede’s 8-year, $66 million contract will now be spread out over the next 8 seasons, saving the team close to $10 million in salary cap space over that time.
This news came as the latest tumble in a quite mighty fall from grace suffered by a man who once upon a time was the highest-paid and arguably one of the most talented defensemen in the NHL in 2015-16. In the next few years, he went from one of the best players on the planet to a trade piece when he along with Conor Garland was sent to Hollywood North in a trade that sent Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle and three draft picks back to the Coyotes. A trade that included the 11th overall pick which became Dylan Guenther, one of the most exciting prospects from the 2021 draft class. This move became the cream of the crop of bad moves made under former Canucks GM Jim Benning, a man who very quickly developed a reputation for his poor GM abilities.
Now that the buyout has cleared up some space, there are several possible ways the management could use their newfound money. The first way it could be used is to solidify the forward core and get a 3C in free agency. Some examples of this could be Edmonton’s Nick Bjugstad, Colorado’s Lars Eller, or reigning Stanley Cup champion Ivan Barbashev.
The second way the newfound money could be used is on bolstering the defence, an area that has greatly needed upgrades for multiple seasons. A well-built top 2 pairings, including a defence-minded partner for the offensive dynamo in Quinn Hughes. Some examples of this could include New Jersey’s Ryan Graves, Seattle’s Carson Soucy, and Boston’s Dmitry Orlov, with possibly one or both of NYI’s Scott Mayfield, or Florida’s Radko Gudas to fill out the remaining defensive pair or become a 7th D-man.
The final method, the simplest and the safest of the three is to simply keep the cap space for resigning the team's young stars. Namely, the cap could be used to re-up OEL’s countryman and 3-time NHL All-Star Elias Pettersson. Petterson’s 3-year, $22 million contract expires at the end of the 2023-24 season, at which point he will be eligible to enter Restricted Free Agency. Though the Canucks may not need to worry about Petey’s departure, it makes the life of a GM a tad easier to have some extra money to be flexible (take on a few albatross contracts for picks, maybe get an older second star), whilst still keeping the budding starlets.
Now that a few of the options for the Canucks have been explored, what could be on the cards for the new free agent Ekman-Larsson?
The first option, and arguably the saddest, is that he simply rides off into the sunset, not to play a game again. This option is unlikely, due to him being only 31 years of age, and still having 22 points in 54 games played last season.
A second option, a bit less extreme than the first, is to make a return to European hockey, in his native Sweden or several other leagues. The salary may not be on the same level as he may get for chasing the Stanley Cup, but it could be a nice change of pace, to be closer to his hometown, and the loss of salary is softened (if not covered) by his $2.7 million/year stipend from Vancouver.
The third and final option, as well as the most likely for an NHL calibre player, is to sign with another team in free agency. There are two ways this could go, OEL could try to chase a ring on a high-end contender or decide to become an experienced mentor on a team that is rebuilding. On the contender side, there is the option of Toronto, if he wanted to stay in Canada, Tampa Bay, to potentially help them rekindle a dynasty or Boston. Boston seems like it could be the front runner, as it was reportedly the only destination (other than Vancouver) that OEL was willing to waive his no-trade clause for, as well as a team that needs some retooling after their ignominious first-round playoff exit. As for the mentoring route, the most obvious choice would be Arizona, the team he spent the first 11 years of his NHL career with, and a place where his jersey may be hung up into the rafters once he hangs up his skates.
While biting the bullet on the buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson may have been a laborious decision to make, if done correctly, it can become a new start for the Canucks, removing one more remnant of a dismal GM, and for OEL, who has the opportunity to either chase Lord Stanley or return home.