Confirmed Signing with Link: [TOR] D Oliver Ekman-Larsson signs with the Maple Leafs (4 years, $3.5M AAV)

[Space umpire]

Why would OEL go from no taxes to getting taxed?!?! He better have used the Calculators!

Keeps his house in Florida. Make bulk of contract a signing bonus and boom. No state tax.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

This is where I’m at too . His rep took a hit when he signed that huge deal and he couldn’t live up to it but still a good player at his current hit ( even if it’s a year ish too long )

 

[RickyLafleur]

He would be ottawas 3rd best dman

Nah.

 

[toddkaz]

Was he dumped before or after he won the cup? I forget.

There is a lot of players who won the cup looking for a job right now.

Is that a qualification to play for the leafs? I guess its better than the players playing the last 50 years for the leafs.

 

[sxvnert]

He was brought in to play top pp minutes and the 5/6 spot. Fair value imo.

 

[Legion34]

Keeps his house in Florida. Make bulk of contract a signing bonus and boom. No state tax.

This isn’t really true. He would have to prove greater financial ties to Florida.

He might be able to to do it the first year. Hard after

JT just tried something similar and now the CRA is suing him for millions

Edit: Toronto had to over pay 1.25 million off his last Florida contract. He still got a raise, even with having to overpay to make up for Florida’s clear and indisputable tax advantage which was recently confirmed by quotes of

Brisebois. Grier and Adams

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Good defenceman once he got through those injured hips

I still find it funny how Benning pursued this cat TWICE.
So what when he massively overpaid in the trade that was way less than what he offered them a season before

Worth pointing out that the Panthers' defensive structure is great for these kind of rehab cases due to requiring less pivot -> recovery from the defenders. The defensemen are often attacking in while the forwards race back out to cover for them. OEL's hip could become more of an issue in Toronto.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Worth pointing out that the Panthers' defensive structure is great for these kind of rehab cases due to requiring less pivot -> recovery from the defenders. The defensemen are often attacking in while the forwards race back out to cover for them. OEL's hip could become more of an issue in Toronto.

Concur.

I liked OEL in Arizona, he was decent in 21-22, and I was sad to see it all go pear shaped in his last year in Vancouver.

That said, I really don't understand this signing by Toronto. It's like he's a lesser version of Rielly with a lot of the same weaknesses. Feisty but not a deterrent, not a great skater, and prone to being beaten wide on bad pivots. It just seems strange to me.

I can see where there might be teams where OEL would be a good fit as a number 4 (though i wouldn't want to be a fan a team making that bet) but Toronto's fit seems odd. If he plays with Liljegren they will be turnstiled.

 

[Cancuks]

Buyout candidate by next season and will re-sign with Florida for league minimum. Rinse and repeat until he's making $20 million a season from contracts and buyouts.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Obviously it is very early in the season, but...

- Playing 21+ minutes a night for us
- Being used on the #1 PP and #1 PK
- 3 points in 4 games
- +3
- Very effective puck mover

Might be Trelivings best UFA signing in Toronto as it looks today.

 

[centipede2233]

Really good signing. He hit a home run here and the stolarz and tanev ones to

 

[Suntouchable13]

Really good signing. He hit a home run here and the stolarz and tanev ones to

Hopefully, we'll see what happens in April and beyond.

 

[centipede2233]

Hopefully, we'll see what happens in April and beyond.

I think there is reason to be optimistic. Berube has a much better defensive system then keefe. Injuries also can p happen to.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Give him 4.5 x 6 why not eh Brad

So far he would have been worth that.

 

[MCR74]

Give him 4.5 x 6 why not eh Brad

Could always be worse. Ask Edmonton.

 

[Roo]

Amazing value for Leafs right now. Been very happy with him an expanded role. He seems to be a solid partner with McCabe.

 

[I am Canadian]

He's got an aggression to him that I didn't expect. Great to see.

Issues will always be with years 3 & 4.

 

[The Management]

All of the former Panthers have been good.

The seed is strong.

 

[Antropovsky]

He's got an aggression to him that I didn't expect. Great to see.

Issues will always be with years 3 & 4.

Hes not that physical, we just got very used to seeing Dubas/Keefe no hitting allowed teams.

 

[BluesyShoes]

This is where I’m at too . His rep took a hit when he signed that huge deal and he couldn’t live up to it but still a good player at his current hit ( even if it’s a year ish too long )

He was actually pretty good in Vancouver his first season before injury. He also was getting put into a shut down role with Tyler Myers, and he had to play behind Quinn Hughes for any offensive opportunities.

As a Vancouver fan, from my perspective his buyout was equal parts bad contract and bad fit; he was really the wrong player for the minutes they needed him to fill, and a 4/5/6 physical d-man was the better fit (basically Carson Soucy.) OEL definitely had long periods where he was a mix of injured and clearly checked out, but so did the rest of the team, those were very dark days for the Canucks.

His contract was bad, and he was a really poor fit behind Hughes. Otherwise I think the Canucks may have kept him.

 

[RandV]

He was actually pretty good in Vancouver his first season before injury. He also was getting put into a shut down role with Tyler Myers, and he had to play behind Quinn Hughes for any offensive opportunities.

As a Vancouver fan, from my perspective his buyout was equal parts bad contract and bad fit; he was really the wrong player for the minutes they needed him to fill, and a 4/5/6 physical d-man was the better fit (basically Carson Soucy.) OEL definitely had long periods where he was a mix of injured and clearly checked out, but so did the rest of the team, those were very dark days for the Canucks.

His contract was bad, and he was a really poor fit behind Hughes. Otherwise I think the Canucks may have kept him.

Yeah it was really more about the stink of Jim Benning who pursued OEL like he was a Norris calibre dman, than OEL himself. He was fine as a 2nd pairing guy in his first season in Vancouver, hampered by injuries in the 2nd, but Canucks would have been paying twice the cap hit he has in Toronto till 2027 if they didn't do something at some point.

 

[MoreMogilny]

So far he would have been worth that.

Wait a minute

So you’re saying that based on a 4 game sample size, OEL would be worth a 4.5M/Y for 6 years? That’s insane.

And if you meant he’d be worth 4.5M in general so far, that’s still wild.

Bumping a post 4 games into a season is just puzzling lol. We don’t know what we are truly getting yet.

He looks good. But I don’t think we are proving anything yet.