Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (4 years, $3.5M AAV)

[Confucius]

He surprisingly had 105 hits last season.

Maybe I'm underrating this signing

65 in last seasons playoffs alone

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Toronto Maple Leafs Defenseman | StatMuse

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has played 14 seasons for the Coyotes, Panthers and Canucks. He has 144 goals and 327 assists in 982 games. He has won 1 Stanley Cup.

www.statmuse.com

 

[Shooter2x]

Going to be fun finally having a dman who can let it rip when nylander or marner swing it back to the point. I think we can squeeze one last 10+ goal season out of OEL.

 

[Hellcat]

He should be able to hit 30 points and I prey to G that this guy can still play defence, block the puck, move the puck. Keep it simple.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

He was pretty good when I watched him in the finals but I have a feeling this Cup run will be where his best days officially come to an end.

 

[BertCorbeau]

After looking around the league the AAV isn’t too bad.. 4 years is much though.

 

[Stephen]

He's not as old as you kind of think, as he broke in at an early age with the Coyotes and had several down years in Vancouver. Still a year younger than TJ Brodie.

 

[Gallagbi]

He's not as old as you kind of think, as he broke in at an early age with the Coyotes and had several down years in Vancouver. Still a year younger than TJ Brodie.

So we have OEL just beginning a 4 year contract at the same age Brodie broke down? You trying to hype people up or shit on the deal?

 

[Gabriel426]

So we have OEL just beginning a 4 year contract at the same age Brodie broke down? You trying to hype people up or shit on the deal?

TJ started to break down two playoffs ago.
OEL just had his best stretch of hockey.

Don’t think OEL can repeat his playoffs performance but even at 80% is already better than anyone of the Leafs last season.

 

[Gallagbi]

TJ started to break down two playoffs ago.
OEL just had his best stretch of hockey.

Don’t think OEL can repeat his playoffs performance but even at 80% is already better than anyone of the Leafs last season.

I'm fine with the add, it's a question of when he'll breakdown and how severely. Many players don't just drop a slight bit. We saw Marleau go from second liner to HS. Brodie from top pair to 7th D. Gio from middle pair to 8th D. Maybe OEL and Tanev avoid it, but I'm mostly hoping we get 3+ good years where Tanev is top 4 and OEL can play a regular shift

 

[Gabriel426]

I'm fine with the add, it's a question of when he'll breakdown. I would have preferred him last year over Kling

Let’s hope he still got 2-3 yrs left in him

 

[Stephen]

So we have OEL just beginning a 4 year contract at the same age Brodie broke down? You trying to hype people up or shit on the deal?

It’s neither a hype worthy deal nor one worth crapping on.

OEL had been on a decline for a number of years and been in the league forever but had a nice bounce back on the cup run. The ideal Moneypuck time to get this guy would have been last season but hopefully he has some more hockey to give in his middle 30 years. Brodie isn’t really old either. He just fell off a cliff overnight.

 

[IPS]

He was pretty good when I watched him in the finals but I have a feeling this Cup run will be where his best days officially come to an end.

Yeah I'm about here too.

I'm not awfully optimistic about this signing but I'm open to being proven wrong.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah I'm about here too.

I'm not awfully optimistic about this signing but I'm open to being proven wrong.

Wasn’t really watching OEL that closely in the finals but remember two things from that series. When he went full casual on the McDavid empty netter, which was bad and earned him some criticism. And he did some nice work on the point. He has a nice ability to walk the line, and use his long stick to slingshot point shots at unpredictable angles… which was also Klingberg’s selling point last year.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Wasn’t really watching OEL that closely in the finals but remember two things from that series. When he went full casual on the McDavid empty netter, which was bad and earned him some criticism. And he did some nice work on the point. He has a nice ability to walk the line, and use his long stick to slingshot point shots at unpredictable angles… which was also Klingberg’s selling point last year.

OEL is more physical and blocks more shots than Klingberg

I'm actually kind of excited, maybe it's nostalgia from his Arizona days, but I also think he can meet some reasonable expectations at a $3.5 cap hit. He just needs to be competent defensively and help generate some offense (both 5 on 5 and on the PP).

 

[Stephen]

OEL is more physical and blocks more shots than Klingberg

I'm actually kind of excited, maybe it's nostalgia from his Arizona days, but I also think he can meet some reasonable expectations at a $3.5 cap hit. He just needs to be competent defensively and help generate some offense (both 5 on 5 and on the PP).

OEL was kind of Pietrangelo lite in his Arizona hey day so like you said definitely more well rounded than Klingberg ever was. I’m not super excited or worried about the contract but do like that Tre added 3 defensemen who have just come off deep playoff runs. VS in the past when they seemed to ignore guys who were coming off hot playoff runs like it wasn’t a factor.

 

[thewave]

OEL was kind of Pietrangelo lite in his Arizona hey day so like you said definitely more well rounded than Klingberg ever was. I’m not super excited or worried about the contract but do like that Tre added 3 defensemen who have just come off deep playoff runs. VS in the past when they seemed to ignore guys who were coming off hot playoff runs like it wasn’t a factor.

Good point. I don't think Brad went as off the rails as some people think here. There certainly isn't any franchise crippling moves.

 

[BM14]

OEL is more physical and blocks more shots than Klingberg

I'm actually kind of excited, maybe it's nostalgia from his Arizona days, but I also think he can meet some reasonable expectations at a $3.5 cap hit. He just needs to be competent defensively and help generate some offense (both 5 on 5 and on the PP).

Should be a lock for 35-40 pts if healthy. People are really forgetting about his offensive instincts and break out pass.

 

[seanlinden]

At first I HATED this deal...

But as it "ages" -- call me crazy but I'm not horribly adverse to it.

You look at Joel Edmundson gettng $3.85m x 4, Ilya Lyubushkin getting $3.25m x 2, TJ Brodie getting $3.75m x 2... and there's some things to like.

Yes, he'll be 33 in a couple of weeks, but he's a smart defenceman who skates well with a decent frame & reach. He shouldn't neccessarily drop off massively.

You look at him maybe paired alongside Jake McCabe, and that's a very solid pair for $5.5m. Hanakapa another potential partner, for a $5m pair.

That would then free up something like a McCabe-Liljegren or Benoit-Liljegren pair; and i would argue that either of those are really a very good 3rd pair, or mediocre 2nd.

As a whole, the Leafs are likely to have one of Rielly/Liljegren/OEL on the ice at all times 5on5.

Sure, in a perfect world, it would have been a guy like Brett Pesce and his $5.5m sounds more appealing than these 2 deals, but it seems that Pesce was never really interested in coming to Canada; instead choosing a team 45 minutes from home.

I think one of the real benefits of what Treliving did with the D, is set us up so that we're most likely not shopping for defencemen at the deadline, which makes sense when you consider that the Leafs gave up a 2 3rds, a 5th and a 6th for Lyubushkin & Edmundson at the deadline.

They're somewhat better positioned now to try and just land 1 big fish up front versus the apporach of years past attempting to turn over large portions of the roster.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

OEL might end up being my favorite Leaf...

 

[Menzinger]

I think the reactions to the signing are a bit unnecessarily negative, the AAV is low enough that this actually has the potential to be good value for the team if he's able to play close to a top 4 level of play. The team also desperately needed more guys who can move the puck.

The term on the deal is too long, but that's the price you pay dealing with free agency period

 

[Puckstuff]

Did you w

Which is what he’ll play here plus PP1. Without Marner’s $11M off the books. Treliving had to find lower cost dmen and he’s done a good job.

No he didn't. While we can't know the details of negotiations with players we didn't get, at a glance they could have afford Brendon Dillon or Matt Roy if they trade for Logan Thompson instead of Stolarz or don't overpay for Liljegren.

I like the Tanev signing but I'm very nervous about OEL logging big minutes in the playoffs. We needed a real top 4 minutes eating top 4 D rather then spending 3.5 million on a #5 in OEL, who was a #5 Florida. And I'm not convinced this deal will age well either.

Both of these scenario's would have been better

1. Roy + Tanev

Rielly--Tanev
McCabe-Roy
Benoit-Liljegren

2. Dillon + Tanev

Rielly--Tanev
Dillon-Liljegren
Benoit-McCabe

 

[RunItBackAgain]

That’s the entire window. Better hope it works out

 

[Puckstuff]

At first I HATED this deal...

But as it "ages" -- call me crazy but I'm not horribly adverse to it.

You look at Joel Edmundson gettng $3.85m x 4, Ilya Lyubushkin getting $3.25m x 2, TJ Brodie getting $3.75m x 2... and there's some things to like.

Yes, he'll be 33 in a couple of weeks, but he's a smart defenceman who skates well with a decent frame & reach. He shouldn't neccessarily drop off massively.

You look at him maybe paired alongside Jake McCabe, and that's a very solid pair for $5.5m. Hanakapa another potential partner, for a $5m pair.

That would then free up something like a McCabe-Liljegren or Benoit-Liljegren pair; and i would argue that either of those are really a very good 3rd pair, or mediocre 2nd.

As a whole, the Leafs are likely to have one of Rielly/Liljegren/OEL on the ice at all times 5on5.

Sure, in a perfect world, it would have been a guy like Brett Pesce and his $5.5m sounds more appealing than these 2 deals, but it seems that Pesce was never really interested in coming to Canada; instead choosing a team 45 minutes from home.

I think one of the real benefits of what Treliving did with the D, is set us up so that we're most likely not shopping for defencemen at the deadline, which makes sense when you consider that the Leafs gave up a 2 3rds, a 5th and a 6th for Lyubushkin & Edmundson at the deadline.

They're somewhat better positioned now to try and just land 1 big fish up front versus the apporach of years past attempting to turn over large portions of the roster.

No matter how you slice it, we don't have an elite 2nd pair.

While Rielly-Tanev are very good, they are not 24-25 minutes a night good. Having an elite 2nd pair was very important.

 

[seanlinden]

No matter how you slice it, we don't have an elite 2nd pair.

While Rielly-Tanev are very good, they are not 24-25 minutes a night good. Having an elite 2nd pair was very important.

Yeah, therein lies the crux of the issue. The Leafs probably have 4 defencemen who should be classified as "decent #4", "excellent #5" with OEL, McCabe, Liljegren and Hanakapa if healthy.

The Challenge is, you look at the names that moved today, and it wasn't really like they had anyone better available to them.

It's clear that Brett Pesce chose NJ -- paying him $7m x 6 to come here instead would have been silly. Matt Roy was apparently also adverse to playing in Canada. Brandon Montour at $7.15m or Brady Skjei at $7m or Zadorov at $5m -- I don't think were the right fit.

Practically speaking, the Leafs have potentially "cornered" themselves with OEL if they did want to make a trade for a higher end defenceman and not realy being able to trade him so early on in a contract; but I guess it's a situation where lets say they find "that really good fit", you'd have to figure Liljegren would be part of the deal, and OEL would probably still have his place on the team.

 

[Puckstuff]

Yeah, therein lies the crux of the issue. The Leafs probably have 4 defencemen who should be classified as "decent #4", "excellent #5" with OEL, McCabe, Liljegren and Hanakapa if healthy.

The Challenge is, you look at the names that moved today, and it wasn't really like they had anyone better available to them.

It's clear that Brett Pesce chose NJ -- paying him $7m x 6 to come here instead would have been silly. Matt Roy was apparently also adverse to playing in Canada. Brandon Montour at $7.15m or Brady Skjei at $7m or Zadorov at $5m -- I don't think were the right fit.

Practically speaking, the Leafs have potentially "cornered" themselves with OEL if they did want to make a trade for a higher end defenceman and not realy being able to trade him so early on in a contract; but I guess it's a situation where lets say they find "that really good fit", you'd have to figure Liljegren would be part of the deal, and OEL would probably still have his place on the team.

I would have done 6.25 for Roy or 4.5 for Dillon over 3.5 for OEL.

I would feel much more comfortable with either of those guys logging big minutes, shutting down Barkov, Tkachuck, etc in the playoffs.

The idea of OEL trying to shutdown top 6 players in the playoffs is frightening. We needed a #4 shutdown D not another OFD. Even if OEL is better then Klingberg I don't expect him to be able to shutdown the other teams top players.