NHL Rumors: Trading Oliver-Ekman Larsson, and Filip Forsberg contract
Anthony Scultore
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The Vancouver Canucks were very busy last summer and made a blockbuster trade to bring in a top four defenseman.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson along with forward Conor Garland were acquired by the Canucks from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for center Jay Beagle and wingers Loui Eriksson and Antoine Roussel. In addition Vancouver traded the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The Coyotes retained 12% of OEL’s $8.25M cap hit ($990,000) but it was a steep price to pay.
Flash forward one year later and it appears Vancouver may be ready to move OEL if they can find a taker.
NHL Rumors: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
According to Elliotte Friedman, Vancouver is going to be very aggressive in trying to move money out in order to retain players like J.T. Miller, who has one year left on his contract.
“I think the Canucks are going to be a very aggressive team, in terms of what they’re willing to try and what they’re willing to think of,” said Friedman. “I don’t know if the OEL thing is going to work… but I do think the Canucks are trying to see if there’s anything they could potentially do there. I just think that the Canucks have tried to look around to see if there’s a market there.”
via Daily Hive
Larsson 30, posted 29 points this season in 79 games and appears to be on a steady decline since the 2018-19 season when he scored 44 points.
He has five years remaining on his contract which works out to $7.26 million on the cap after Arizona’s 12% retention. Vancouver would likely be willing to eat some of that salary but not up to the maximum 50% allowed. He also has a no-move clause.
When Arizona first tried to trade him back in 2020, Ekman-Larsson handcuffed the deal by openly stating he would only go to Boston or Vancouver. The Bruins have since traded for and signed Hampus Lindholm so he won’t be going there.
Bottom line is trading OEL will be extremely difficult. It looks to me that the Vancouver Canucks will have to try and find other ways to free up cap space in the near future.
Vancouver’s Brock Boeser is a pending RFA this summer.
NHL Rumors: Filip Forsberg
Forsberg, 27, just completed the final year of a six-year contract upon the Predators sweep at the hands of the Avalanche. He was being paid $6M AAV against the cap and his next deal is expected to be $8.5 million or better. This season he recorded 42 goals and 84 points in 69 games.
“We’re going to continue to work quietly with Filip and his representative toward the contract that pays him equitably while giving the organization the flexibility to compete for the Stanley Cup,” GM David Poile said after the trade deadline in March.
The good news for Preds’ fans is that Forsberg wants to remain in Nashville.
“I’ve said that since Day One: The goal is to come back here,” Forsberg said via NHL.com. “The business side is completely different than the on-ice side. [We’ll] just kind of have to wait and see and play it out.”
There’s been multiple reports this offseason that the two sides have met face-to-face to continue talks. Forsberg noted as much and said this will continue into the summer.
Free agency begins on July 13.
