It has been a troublesome season, to place it calmly, for Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It simply obtained a little bit harder as head coach Rick Tocchet advised reporters that the veteran might be out “some weeks” as a result of an ankle damage, through Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province.
The 31-year-old has struggled significantly in his personal finish, which has helped contribute to Vancouver permitting the second-most objectives within the NHL heading into Saturday’s motion. On high of that, Ekman-Larsson has underachieved offensively, scoring simply twice whereas choosing up 20 assists in 54 video games. These numbers are effectively beneath what he was placing up with Arizona when he had a six-year stretch of recording at the least 39 factors. On account of his struggles, his common ice time per recreation has dropped to twenty:11, three minutes beneath his profession common and his lowest since his rookie marketing campaign again in 2010-11.
Ekman-Larsson nonetheless has 4 years left on his contract, with Vancouver being chargeable for a $7.26M cap cost; Arizona is overlaying an extra $990K. With that a lot time period remaining, it is going to be tough for GM Patrik Allvin to maneuver him; carrying an eight-year buyout cost definitely isn’t preferrred both. There’s no good scenario for the Canucks in relation to the veteran, and now they’ll be with out him for at the least a couple of weeks. Christian Wolanin was recalled from AHL Abbotsford and will have a chance to get into the lineup pretty rapidly.
