The Arizona Coyotes traded captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Vancouver's No. 9 pick in Friday's NHL Draft, Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, the teams announced on Friday. Vancouver is also sending a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 seventh-round pick in the deal.
The Coyotes, who forfeited the No. 11 pick for violating the league's combine testing policy, turned the No. 9 pick into right winger Dylan Guenther of the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings.
Ekman-Larsson, 30, has been with Arizona since he was taken with the sixth pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. The two-time All-Star is one of the better offensive defensemen in the league, compiling 388 points (128 goals, 260 assists) throughout his 11-year career. He has six years left on an eight-year, $66 million extension he signed in 2018; Arizona will retain 12 percent of his contract.
Garland, who is set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, scored 12 goals last season after netting 22 the year before to lead the team.
Eriksson, 36, appeared in seven games for Vancouver in 2020-21. The 36-year-old spent five seasons with the Canucks, notching 88 points in 252 games. Beagle, 35, had one goal and four assists in 30 games this past season. The forward spent the first 10 of his 13 seasons with the Washington Capitals. Roussel, 31, had one goal and three assists in 35 games. His best season came in 2018-19, when he tallied 31 points in 65 games.
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Drance: Why Canucks mega deal to acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland is a franchise defining risk
Why the Canucks made such a bold move
Thomas Drance, Canucks beat writer: They couldn't repeat the calamity that was 2021. Losing the way they did, losing as much as they have over the past six seasons, was beginning to leave a stench around the organization. It was going to be difficult to improve, however, with $16.3 million in cap space committed to a trio of fourth-liners ― and not even good fourth-liners, frankly ― in Roussel, Beagle and Eriksson.
This trade, exorbitantly expensive as it is, permits the Canucks to turn that $12 million in dead money into a bona fide top-of-the-lineup caliber forward and a defender in Ekman-Larsson who, though he struggled last season, the club sees and rather clearly values as a genuine top-four contributor.
Garland is the key to the trade from Vancouver's perspective, but Ekman-Larsson is the key to it working out. He'll need to not only bounce back from a dreadful 2021 campaign and be a solid, top-four level contributor next season, he'll also need to retain enough value into his mid-30s that he can still play an everyday role for the club.
If Ekman-Larsson at any point becomes press-box fodder over the life of this deal, a possibility that seems relatively likely considering how his game has dropped off at the age of 30, then the Canucks will have simply kicked the Eriksson deal ― which would've expired following the 2021-22 season ― down the road a half-decade, and paid handsomely for that privilege.
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How do Ekman-Larsson, Garland fit?
Drance: The fit for Ekman-Larsson is pretty clear. Vancouver has three left-handed defenders that are all young and aren't likely to be trusted in matchup minutes on the roster. With Alex Edler departing, someone has to handle tough assignments for this team next season. That'll now be Ekman-Larsson.
As for Garland, he has a chance to be Bo Horvat's Brad Marchand. And honestly, he's talented enough that he could comfortably slot onto a line with Elias Pettersson. He gives the Canucks the enviable top-six forward group that was sacrificed when the club failed to retain Tyler Toffoli last offseason, essentially, and should add to an attack that promises to be lethal in 2021-22.
Evaluating the deal for Arizona
Dom Luszczyszyn, national analytics writer: In Ekman-Larsson, Arizona owned one of the league’s worst contracts, an $8.25 million poison pill for the next six seasons for a defender who looked washed.
Losing Garland to get out of it stings, but getting the ninth pick and a second rounder more than makes up for it. Teams usually pay a lot more to get out of bad deals, but Arizona did well to leverage Ekman-Larson’s reputation to somehow get value out of the deal. A pretty big win for the team’s long-term cap picture.
(Photo: Kevin Abele / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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