George Richards, FHN Publisher
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Six months ago, the Vancouver Canucks parted ways with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the biggest buyout deal in NHL history.
Ekman-Larsson had four years left on an eight-year, $66 million contract he initially signed with Arizona in 2018.
Tonight, Ekman-Larsson returns to Vancouver for the first time since being paid off to leave — and he says he has “put that all behind me.”
“It is what it is,” Ekman-Larsson told Florida Hockey Now on Sunday. “It is always a nice place to go, Vancouver is a great city and we had a good time there for two years. No hard feelings or anything but this will be fun.
“It is more about us here. This is a big road trip for our team.”
The Canucks acquired Ekman-Larsson in a blockbuster deal in 2021, but things did not go as either had planned.
So, after two disappointing seasons, the Canucks cut bait.
It was an expensive decision.
One that appears to have worked out for both sides.
“We have been good for him,” coach Paul Maurice said, “but he has been good for us.”
Not only did Ekman-Larsson make about $20 million and resurrect his career by signing on with the Florida Panthers, but the Canucks created some cap space and have been able to transform their team into one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season.
Although OEL will count against Vancouver’s cap through the 2028-29 season, it did buy the Canucks some cap flexibility — starting with this season in which they created $7.1 million worth of space as he only accounts for about $150,000 in dead space.
Next season, that number goes up to $2.4 million with subsequent hits of $4.8 million for two seasons in 2025-27 before returning to $2.4 million for the final two.
Regardless, Ekman-Larsson has bounced back from two rough seasons in Vancouver where things simply did not work out.
A foot injury sustained before last season affected OEL going in, and another one ended it.
All told, he ended with 22 points in 54 games last season.
Healthy again, Ekman-Larsson has turned things around with the Panthers.
“The key is just feeling good and feeling healthy,” he said. “I haven’t been healthy in a long time so I am trying to enjoy every game because each game you get to play in the NHL is a good night. I think my passion for the game, going to Worlds when I had the chance and then getting hurt — it was bad timing, but I wanted to play going into the summer.
“I got hurt and battled that for two years. But I feel good here, I had a chance to play on a real good team, not like Vancouver was bad or anything, but what they went through last year kind of built into this one. It has been a lot of fun coming to the rink every day.”
Signing with the Panthers for a rebound season made a lot of sense for the team and player.
About two weeks after being bought out, he signed a one-year deal worth about $2.3 million and, OEL made the most of the extended playing time offered by the Panthers with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour missing the start of the season.
Through the first 28 games, his seven goals are the most he has scored in a single season since 2019-20 and tare tied for third among all NHL defenseman.
While his playing time has gone down with Ekblad and Montour back in the lineup, his high standard of play has continued.
Now partnered with Dmitry Kulikov or Uvis Balinskis on the third pairing, he is still making his presence known on both ends of the ice.
“He has been a more physical player. He isn’t playing as many minutes and I think he has had more bite to his game,’’ coach Maurice said. “I am glad he got that. … He is a very proud man and you would have to be to have the kind of career that he has had. He was the driving player in Arizona for a very long time before he got into injury problems.
“I think it was humbling when he was bought out, being that type of a player. He wants an opportunity to come back in the league and be the type of player he was. It was the perfect fit for him. He was healthy, he got to play with good players and now he is back in that marquee game. He is a big-time player.”
So far, he looks like another player who has come to the Panthers and got his game back on track.
“When we had conversations over the summer, it became clear Florida was a good fit for me and I hope it has been or them,” said Ekman-Larsson, who was a minus-1 in Florida’s 5-2 loss to the Canucks in Sunrise back on Oct. 21.
“I am just trying to take advantage of every opportunity when I step on the ice and enjoy it.”
ON DECK
FLORIDA PANTHERS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS
- When: Thursday, 10 p.m.
- Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
- Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Florida won 2-0
- This Season (Vancouver Leads 1-0) — At Florida: Canucks 5, Panthers 3 (Oct. 21). At Vancouver: Thursday.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Vancouver leads 19-13-4, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Edmonton, 10 p.m.