Canucks buy out D Ekman-Larsson

The Vancouver Canucks plan to buy out the contract of defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The 31-year-old played 54 games with the Canucks last season, scoring two goals and adding 20 assists.

"We would like to thank Oliver for the time he spent in Vancouver," said Allvin in a press release. "The business of hockey is very complex and tough decisions have to be made if you want to remain competitive. Buying out Oliver gives us a lot more flexibility and cap space the next couple of years and significantly reduces his hit in the subsequent seasons. It is our expectation that following this year, the cap will also raise considerably making this the right time to execute this buyout. Our organization is committed to do whatever it needs to do to improve, get better on and off the ice, and move forward in a positive direction."

The Karlskrona, Sweden native has four years remaining on an eight-year, $66 million contract that carries an average annual value of $8.25 million. With the buyout, part of Ekman-Larsson’s salary will count against the Canucks’ cap through the 2028-29 season. The breakdown is as follows:

Year 1: $146, 667 ($7.1M in savings)
Year 2: $2,346,667 ($4.9M in savings)
Year 3: $4,766,667 ($2.4M in savings)
Year 4: $4,766,667 ($2.4M in savings)
Year 5: $2,126,667 ($2.1M cap hit and cost)
Year 6: $2,126,667 ($2.1M cap hit and cost)
Year 7: $2,126,667 ($2.1M cap hit and cost)
Year 8: $2,126,667 ($2.1M cap hit and cost)

TSN's Farhan Lalji adds that the Canucks will incur 88 per cent of the buyout costs, while the Coyotes will incur 12 per cent.

As a result of the buyout, the Coyotes will lose one of their three retained salary slots for the next eight years, according to Cap Friendly.

Ekman-Larsson, along with forward Conor Garland, was acquired by the Canucks from the Arizona Coyotes prior to the 2021-22 season in exchange for Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (used on Dylan Guenther), a 2022 second-round pick (Hunter Haight), and a seventh-round pick in 2023.

In two seasons with the Canucks, Ekman-Larsson has scored seven goals and 44 assists in 133 games. He has tallied 135 goals and 304 assists in 902 career games with the Canucks and Coyotes since being drafted sixth overall by the Coyotes in the 2009 NHL Draft.