The Bruins Should Pass Again On Veteran Defenseman

The Vancouver Canucks decided to buy out the final four years of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s contract on Friday, paying the 31-year-old $19.5 million to not play for them. Ekman-Larsson had four years remaining on his eight-year, $66-million contract, which carried an average annual value of $8.25 million. The Canucks will pay him not to play for them for the next eight years.

Ekman-Larsson was acquired in 2021 with Connor Garland from Arizona in exchange for the ninth overall draft pick in 2021 and forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel. The Canucks let Ekman-Larsson go due to the fact that the team was approximately $668,000 over the cap entering this off-season. This move gives them needed cap relief but keeps the veteran defenseman on the books through 2030-31.

The list of teams who might be interested in Ekman-Larsson was bandied about on social media, and the Boston Bruins were included in the discussion. There has been interest in the past from the Bruins regarding Ekman-Larsson, particularly in 2020 and 2021 when the Swedish blue liner preferred destinations during trade talks were Vancouver and Boston. The Bruins, at the time, needed a top-pair left-shot defenseman. The interest might still be mutual, but now Ekman-Larsson projects to be a third-pair defenseman, and the Bruins would be interested for very short money.

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman from the 32 Thoughts Podcast reiterated the mutual interest between Ekman-Larsson and Boston on a recent episode. Whether the Bruins would entertain such an option is another story. General Manager Don Sweeney will probably buy out defenseman Mike Reilly and might trade fellow defenders Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort. Jakub Zboril is under contract but was a healthy scratch for much of last season. Dmitry Orlov is becoming less of a possibility to return as the 32-year-old is seeking an expensive, long-term deal.

The Bruins have very little cap space until decisions are made on their own players. With Ekman-Larsson on the Canucks’ payroll for eight more years, a contract near the veteran minimum is possible. There are some teams who might make an offer as well. As far as the Bruins are concerned, the timing might not be right once again. Ekman-Larsson has been in decline for the last four seasons. This past season, the former sixth-overall pick totaled two goals and 20 assists with a minus-24 rating. His career plus-minus is minus-128. The Bruins could use some toughness on the back end, particularly on their bottom pairing. Oliver Emmanuel-Larson doesn’t fill that need, and the Bruins should pass…again.