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Oliver Ekman-Larsson | #23 | D


-AJ-

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A deeper look at some of his basic underlying metrics suggest that although his puck possession is alright, many of his other defensive stats look quite poor. His offense is obviously still solid, and it looks like he was used as a 2/3 guy in terms of TOI. I think we'd be wise not to expect too much out of him, but hope he can regain at least some of his game back.

 

Some positives:

- Reasonably responsible on the penalty front for a defenseman

- Played on the 2nd PK unit last year

- Decent puck possession

- Two years removed from receiving some Norris attention (2018-19, he received a single 3rd place vote, so he finished 11th in voting)

- Played on PP1 for Arizona all of last year

- Had the highest PP goals per 60 of all Coyotes defensemen (goals by the team while on the ice for the PP)

 

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14 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

A deeper look at some of his basic underlying metrics suggest that although his puck possession is alright, many of his other defensive stats look quite poor. His offense is obviously still solid, and it looks like he was used as a 2/3 guy in terms of TOI. I think we'd be wise not to expect too much out of him, but hope he can regain at least some of his game back.

Arizona has been horrible defensively for years, its hard to look good and it's hard to stay positive, when there's No light at the end of the tunnel. He'll do well, here.

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5 minutes ago, VegasCanuck said:

Arizona has been horrible defensively for years, its hard to look good and it's hard to stay positive, when there's No light at the end of the tunnel. He'll do well, here.

I'm certainly hoping so. Edler had a renaissance after similar struggles in his early 30s too, so we know it can happen.

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1 minute ago, Zhukini said:

The man who’ll save his job or end it.

Could be, but if you're OEL, how do you stay positive with what's been going on in Arizona. The constant uncertainty of where you're going to be playing, the lack of solid plan or budget to make the team better.

 

You look at the lineup that he's had to feed pucks to, and then what he has to feed pucks to starting this coming season.

 

Lack of direction and team focus, can be a major demotivational factor.

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Welcome OEL, hope you take Edler's # but have a feeling your too nice and a fellow Swede and you will choose a different #, something he wore internationally or pre NHL...anyone got the scoop on his other #;s he has worn earlier in hockey?

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2 hours ago, Canuckster86 said:

Welcome OEL, hope you take Edler's # but have a feeling your too nice and a fellow Swede and you will choose a different #, something he wore internationally or pre NHL...anyone got the scoop on his other #;s he has worn earlier in hockey?

I know he had #3 in Leksand, no idea about what he had in his younger years in Tingsryd 

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I like Garland's quote that OEL had a monster playoff in the bubble but the following debacle with the trade that didn't happen last summer probably ended all enthusiasm he had left for Arizona (not to mention the rift with Tocchet, anyone know what that was about?).

 

Tells me a motivated and liberated OEL might be a treat for us, although it's hard to be sure what his somewhat decline the last 2-3 seasons really means. If he was able to really step it up in the bubble when games meant more that says at least something. 

 

Also don't buy the soft or bad defensively take, I think it's quite the opposite in both cases, but time will tell.

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1 hour ago, J-P said:

Also don't buy the soft or bad defensively take, I think it's quite the opposite in both cases, but time will tell.

If we're just going by the stats, he isn't very good defensively. However, he's far from soft. He throws a ton of hits.

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