Hours after the Philadelphia Flyers sent a first-round pick (and more) to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, the Vancouver Canucks acquired a new blueliner of their own in Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Also heading to Vancouver is forward Conor Garland, while the Coyotes receive the Canucks’ 2021 first-round pick (No. 9 overall), a 2022 second-round pick, a 2023 seventh-round pick, along with forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel.
The trade was as notable for the players and picks involved as for the salary-cap implications for both teams. Who comes out ahead? Let’s grade both GMs:
The winner of this trade is pretty clear. It’s the general manager that doesn’t have Oliver Ekman-Larsson on his salary cap in 2026-27 with a cap hit of over $7.2 million. That team will not be the Coyotes, thanks to another shrewd piece of business from GM Bill Armstrong this offseason.
The Coyotes wanted to move Ekman-Larsson’s contract last offseason, and he was willing to waive his no-movement clause for either the Canucks or the Boston Bruins. A trade never materialized, and the defenseman had yet another underwhelming season, with 24 points in 46 games, playing at a slightly below replacement level, especially on the defensive end. As his average ice time dropped by over two minutes per game, the writing on the wall was clear as day that they’d revisit a move this offseason.
Ekman-Larsson is 30. He has six seasons left on his contract. His most productive years and his contract signing predated Armstrong, a draft guru with the St. Louis Blues who arrived in Arizona to find a team that had little in the way of draft capital and had actually spent to the salary cap in GM John Chayka’s waning days.
His offseason plan was simple: Replenish those picks by any means necessary. And in true Coyotes’ tradition, that meant taking on other teams’ contract headaches. In three moves, he added $22.6 million in payroll over the next two seasons. Along with New York Islanders forward Andrew Ladd ($8 million) and Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere ($6.5 million) for the next two seasons, the Coyotes have now added Eriksson ($4 million), Beagle ($2.2 million) and Roussel ($1.9 million), who all have expiring contracts after this season.
In the process, the acquired seven draft picks, including a first-rounder this season — after having to forfeit their own. Ironically, the one they gave up (No. 11) was lower than the one they acquired (9th).
The Coyotes now have seven second-round picks over the next two drafts. Work your magic, Mr. Armstrong.
Garland’s name has been in the trade ether for the last year, with the Coyotes offering strong denials that he was available. Welp, here we are. Garland was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He’s a solid, top-six forward that could have been part of the eventual solution in Arizona. But as a way to help facilitate a trade that got the Ekman-Larsson contract off their salary cap and gave them the 9th overall pick in this draft, he served the Coyotes well.
Let’s start with the good news. Garland is a legitimate scorer and a great addition to the Canucks’ top six. He drives possession, consistently was better than his teammates at 5-on-5 and had a career-best 2.7 points per 60 minutes in all situations last season, which would have put him near the top of the Canucks’ scoring list. He turns 26 next March. There’s an argument to be made that Garland alone was worth a first- and a second-round pick, although flipping the ninth overall pick for him would have been pushing it.
Also good: Clearing out Beagle, Roussel and Eriksson off the Canucks’ cap. Vancouver has to give new deals to restricted free agents Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. They have several gaps in their lineup that need filling. They went from a playoff darling in 2019-20 to last in the North Division in 2021. This move gives them a top-six forward and cap flexibility …
… and an absolute albatross of a contract in Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s deal.
Look, maybe like with the Flyers’ deal for Rasmus Ristolainen, the change in scenery (and role and defense partner) does Ekman-Larsson good. Maybe he recaptures some of the magic that made him one of the NHL’s most promising defensemen.
Except Ristolainen is 26, and Ekman-Larsson is 30. Ristolainen is a free agent after this season, while Ekman-Larsson is signed for six more seasons. In both cases, it’s two players that never delivered on the promise of their potential; in Ekman-Larsson’s case, that’s a bit more troubling considering his age.
The Coyotes are picking up 12% of the cap hit, or $990,000. That brings the hit down to $7.26 through 2026-27. That’s still entirely too much.
In a way, this is one of the most nihilistic trades we’ve ever seen in the NHL. It’s GM Jim Benning dealing away his own free-agent mistakes for another untenable contract. It’s a wager that Garland and Ekman-Larsson make the Canucks better in the short term, because he won’t be there to see the carnage in the long term if they don’t.
Like we said, the winner of this trade is the one the GM that doesn’t have Oliver Ekman-Larsson on his salary cap in 2026. Perhaps in the end, Benning won’t be that person ether.