A veteran of over 900 games in the NHL, Ekman-Larsson is excited about joining the successful Panthers
Once the Florida Panthers were eliminated in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 13, it was revealed that two key players on the Panthers blue line were going to miss significant time to start the 2023-24 season.
Defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad suffered major injuries during the Panthers playoff run: Montour with an injury to his shoulder, and Ekblad with fractured foot and a shoulder injury as well.
Panthers General Manager Bill Zito during media day said that the timeline for those two to return to the lineup is somewhere around the December 15th range. Maybe earlier, maybe later. Nobody knows.
Florida captain Aleksander Barkov was asked about how much he would have to step up leadership wise knowing that Montour and Ekblad are going to miss significant time during the season.
“[I’m not] 100% sure what their timetable is right now with their injuries. I know they're skating and love to see that after what they've been through last year,” said Barkov. “Of course, missing those two guys, it will be huge for us, but at the same time, it's a great opportunity for everyone else to step up and play.”
One of the many guys who is going to be counted on is newly acquired defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who was picked sixth overall by the then Phoenix Coyotes at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft out of Sweden.
Ekman-Larsson spent his draft plus one season in Sweden playing for Leksands IF, where he was an alternate captain. He also played in a World Junior Championship and World Championship, representing Sweden.
His only playoff appearance came in a full season 82-game season came in 2012, which was also his first full season.
The Phoenix Coyotes made it to the Western Conference Final, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Los Angeles Kings.
The now-Arizona Coyotes made it to the first round of the postseason in 2020 after getting through the Stanley Cup Qualifiers in the Edmonton bubble as the 11th seed, defeating the sixth seeded Nashville Predators three games to one. Arizona would end up losing to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in the first round.
That’s it, that is the only taste of the postseason Ekman-Larsson has had, and not all is his fault. There has been a lot of turmoil in Arizona about whether the team is going to remain there or not. There was an identity crisis with the team being called the Phoenix Coyotes, but playing in Glendale at the time, with the uncertainty about where in Arizona they will end up playing, the change to Arizona Coyotes was necessary.
Ekman-Larsson spent his final three seasons in Arizona as the captain of the team prior to his trade to the Vancouver Canucks.
In Vancouver, there was a bit of uncertainty as well, with the firing of general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green.
The Canucks brought in Jim Rutherford from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as the President of Hockey Operations and Patrick Allvin, who followed Rutherford from Pittsburgh to Vancouver, as general manager.
It was not just uncertainty with the front office, but with the coaching staff as well. Once Green was fired after an 8-15-2 record to start the 2021-22 season, in came Bruce Boudreau.
Vancouver, in the final 57 games of the season, finished 32-15-10, which in an 82-game season pace, is a 106-point pace. A lot had Vancouver as a team who could possibly get back to the postseason in 2022-23.
Through 46 games under Boudreau, the Canucks had 39 points with a 18-25-3 record. There were also rumors circulating that Rutherford and Allvin were already looking for Boudreau’s replacement, which ended up being true when he was replaced by Rick Tocchet on January 22nd of 2023.
The bright side about Ekman-Larsson’s time with the Coyotes was that in ten years, he only played for two coaches, Tocchet and Dave Tippett. Tocchet and Ekman-Larsson would meet again in Vancouver.
All of those factors make it difficult for any player, and some might take it personally. Not Ekman-Larsson.
When asked about the disappointment the last few seasons, Ekman-Larsson did not put blame it on any external factors.
“It's always hard when you when you struggle as a team,” he said. “You cannot take that personally. I've always been a guy that I look myself in the mirror first and see what I need to do, and what I need to do better to help the team. It's not really about me at all, it's about winning. That's why I'm feeling super excited about this team. They went through (a lot) last year and learned along the way, and hopefully you can build on that.”
Montour set the Panthers single season record for points by a defenseman with 73 (16 goals and 57 assists), breaking Keith Yandle’s previous record.
Although points-wise, Ekman-Larsson’s best season came in 2016 where he had 55 points (21 goals, 34 assists), he is most known for contributing offensively, whether it is jumping up in the rush or quarterbacking a power play.
There is a possibility for the Panthers to make up those points with Montour and Ekblad gone with Ekman-Larsson’s presence in the lineup, even at 32 years old.
It’s still yet to be seen whether Ekman-Larsson or defenseman Gustav Forsling will get the chance to quarterback Florida’s top power play to start the year, but they have been seen paired together at the start of training camp.
Following a recent training camp practice, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said the team wouldn’t be getting into power play work until next week, but added when that time comes, Ekman-Larsson would get a crack at it.
“I would say that Oliver Ekman-Larsson is elite in this league at getting the puck to the net,” Maurice said. “That’s probably the first place we’ll put him. It’s part of the reason we signed him.”
Maurice also pointed to Ekman-Larsson’s ability to retrieve the puck off the boards, walk it to the middle of the ice and get it on net.
It sure sounds like Ekman-Larsson will get every chance to work to his perceived strengths.
The Panthers as a franchise have been one of the most stable over the last few seasons, winning a Presidents’ Trophy in the 2021-22 season and making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023.
It’s a place for players to rejuvenate their careers, and Ekman-Larsson just wants to win.
During his free agency call with Zito, he wanted to be sold on the team, not the area.
Although Ekman-Larsson is not known for his defense, we could see a big step in his game knowing that there is some stability in South Florida with the Panthers blueliners and having two-time Vezina Trophy winner between the pipes in Sergei Bobrovsky.
Ekman-Larsson said that he is not mailing it in just because he is going to get more minutes with Montour and Ekblad out; he wants them back for the sake of this team being at full strength. The number one goal for him at 32 years old is winning, not personal accomplishments or padding up the statistics.
Panthers players are excited about the addition of Ekman-Larsson, including one player who played against him multiple times during his days in Calgary, forward Sam Bennett.
When asked what Ekman-Larsson can bring to the table, Bennett responded saying, “[Ekman-Larsson’s] a really experienced [defenseman] that's been in this league for a while and has done some great things. He's going to bring that steady composure as a [defenseman] and he's going to be good to some of the young guys who we got. I think he'll be a big, big piece for us.”
An experienced veteran presence in the Panthers locker room is what the group felt was necessary when bringing in Ekman-Larsson, especially when trying to get back to the postseason.
Ekman-Larsson’s ups and downs in his career led him to Florida after being bought out by the Canucks over the summer.
With signing a one-year, $2,250,000 contract this summer with the Panthers (although he is still getting paid by Vancouver and Arizona), this provides the perfect opportunity for Ekman-Larsson to rejuvenate his hockey career under the guidance of Maurice.
