The Vancouver Canucks are paying Oliver Ekman-Larsson a hefty sum to join another team.Vancouver plans to buy out the highly paid defenseman, his agent Kevin Epp told CHEK's Rick Dhaliwal. Ekman-Larsson will become an unrestricted free agent as a result.Epp said the Canucks informed him of the decision Friday morning. He added that Ekman-Larsson's camp was surprised because it got the impression a buyout wouldn't happen after meeting with ownership and management once Vancouver's season ended.The veteran blue-liner has four years remaining on the eight-year pact he signed with the Arizona Coyotes on July 1, 2018. It carried an $8.25-million cap hit before the buyout. The Canucks will now pay him nearly $20 million over the next eight years. Massive buyout for Oliver Ekman-Larsson sprinkled over the next 8 years. The #Canucks are paying him $19.5 million in real cash to go away, per @CapFriendly. pic.twitter.com/zSwNBPHLPh— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 16, 2023 The Canucks acquired Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland in a July 2021 trade with the Coyotes. Vancouver sent Arizona three draft picks, including a first-rounder that become Dylan Guenther, plus forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel.Ekman-Larsson's play declined sharply in recent years. Prime Oliver Ekman-Larsson was so good 😥 pic.twitter.com/3tWFJoLvWI— Evolving-Hockey (@EvolvingHockey) June 16, 2023 The Swedish rearguard, who'll turn 32 on July 17, posted at least 39 points per season for six straight campaigns from 2013-14 to 2018-19, including a 55-point output over 75 games in 2015-16. However, he failed to produce more than 30 in any of the next four seasons, and his average ice time dropped from 23:35 over his first 10 campaigns to 21:20 in his last three.The Coyotes drafted Ekman-Larsson sixth overall in 2009.

I honestly didn’t expect that!

  • @LiveLaughLoveRevengeEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    Heard it in a reddit comment (yeah still using both) that this makes it easier to negotiate other upcoming defencemen contracts. So there’s a plus at least?

    I really thought they were going to wait a year or two.

  • @[email protected]English
    2•1 year ago

    This market is finicky and has so many arm chair gms. With that said, the real gm does want to build the team with his vision and i like that. Now, the never ending threads of how oel, with his new contract, is a steal at 1m per year