Oliver Ekman-Larsson | #23 | D

[lmm]

28 minutes ago, J-P said:

Not saying you're totally off but imo OEL is still a 6 mil player and Myers a 5 mil player. Sure I would like Myers traded for a player that could do the same defensively at around 4 mil, but without OEL/Myers this season, where do you think we would be in the standings?

getting a better draft pick 

and getting out of cap hell

[Guest]

9 hours ago, King Loui said:

Points are everything when you make 8.25 a year. that's why you get paid that to begin with.  Guys like Tanev get paid 4.5 a year to play against the other teams top lines, Tanev also ironically has the same amount of points as OEL with far less PP time.  If you pay a guy 7.25 and he doesn't break 30 points you're not getting close to the value of his contract.

 

He has been good this year but not 7.26 good.  

 

Between him and Myers making 13.26 and combining for just 40 points, I'll say right now that is the worst defensive duo value, dollar for dollar point for point.  It's crippling, there's no other way around it.

 

Again, 13.26 million dollars for 40 points, on pace for a combined 50 to be fair.  Not good enough

Two small details...  We're paying 7.25 to OEL, not 8.25. Also Calgary is one of the highest scoring teams in the league, they've scored 40 goals more then we have.  

 

I'm not going to argue that Tanev's 4.5 mil/year isn't a better deal then OEL's 7.25/year.  As I've said, OEL is a better d-man then Tanev, but Tanev's contract is better value.  I just don't find OEL's deal to be as bad as people make it out to be.  

 

Myers' deal is a different issue.  You could probably trade Myers in the off-season if you really wanted to as he's had a stellar year.  Just saw a stat that Myers is 4th in the league in +/- since Boudreau took over at +21. 

 

I think that given enough time to gel, OEL would be just as good individually playing with someone like Poolman or Noah Juulsen which brings us back to the fact that you'd have to put Myers on a 3rd pairing which isn't very efficient money-wise. 

[King Loui]

8 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Two small details...  We're paying 7.25 to OEL, not 8.25. Also Calgary is one of the highest scoring teams in the league, they've scored 40 goals more then we have.  

 

I'm not going to argue that Tanev's 4.5 mil/year isn't a better deal then OEL's 7.25/year.  As I've said, OEL is a better d-man then Tanev, but Tanev's contract is better value.  I just don't find OEL's deal to be as bad as people make it out to be.  

 

Myers' deal is a different issue.  You could probably trade Myers in the off-season if you really wanted to as he's had a stellar year.  Just saw a stat that Myers is 4th in the league in +/- since Boudreau took over at +21. 

 

I think that given enough time to gel, OEL would be just as good individually playing with someone like Poolman or Noah Juulsen which brings us back to the fact that you'd have to put Myers on a 3rd pairing which isn't very efficient money-wise. 

I mentioned twice that we pay him 7.26  he get's paid 8.25 though because he's supposed to bring offense.  He's about 20 points behind what would be reasonable value, he's 31 in a few months and has been trending down offensively.  He needs to provide more for us next year

 

 Calgary scores more goals but OEL get's 10x the powerplay minutes Tanev does  

 

 

[Alienhuggyflow]

13 hours ago, lmm said:

getting a better draft pick 

and getting out of cap hell

How is this team in cap hell? Show me who we've lost because of the cap that whole narrative needs to die already.

 

You seem like you would rather lose games but have some cap squirreled away while sucking to get a chance at a better magic bean.

And that's fine, me I could care less about draft position and fantasies where all you need is cap space and any UFA will not only sign here but do it with a discount to boot, I much prefer meaningful games in April.

Myers and OEL eat a ton of hard minutes tell who we  could of had instead, for cheaper while being younger and better?

Myers is a +19 ffs.

You guys who diss him need to turn the page, he's a different player, same with OEL who has been very solid all year and has been putting up points at a much better rate recently and they would be even higher if he had more pp time.

 

[Alflives]

59 minutes ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

How is this team in cap hell? Show me who we've lost because of the cap that whole narrative needs to die already.

 

You seem like you would rather lose games but have some cap squirreled away while sucking to get a chance at a better magic bean.

And that's fine, me I could care less about draft position and fantasies where all you need is cap space and any UFA will not only sign here but do it with a discount to boot, I much prefer meaningful games in April.

Myers and OEL eat a ton of hard minutes tell who we  could of had instead, for cheaper while being younger and better?

Myers is a +19 ffs.

You guys who diss him need to turn the page, he's a different player, same with OEL who has been very solid all year and has been putting up points at a much better rate recently and they would be even higher if he had more pp time.

 

And we still aren’t in the playoffs.  So we are capped out and not a playoff team.  That’s what JR said had to change.  

How do we change that?  

We aren’t trading OEL or Myers.  Their contracts would cost us assets to dump and we can’t afford that.

Likewise, Dickinson, Poolman, would cost us to dump too.  

So how do we get out of Cap issues?

Miller, Boeser, Garland, or Bo.  These are the guys who will get moved.  (2 of them)

 

So, Benning (again) created a cap circumstance where we are forced to lose valuable pieces because he signed guys to (or traded for) bad contracts.  

 

After er the Bubble we lost Tofu, and Tanev because of cap problems.  Then, foolishly, Benning paid assets to bring in Schmidt (who was more expensive than Tanev) and signed Holtby and Virtanen and ended up spending more than if we kept our own guys.  

And then after all that we hear Miller publicly saying “shocking reset”.  

 

Its great we defend our guys while they’re here, but when they are gone it’s torch and pitchfork time.  Benning created the worst 8 years in our history.  And this coming after how amazing the Gillis years were.  

 

[Timråfan]

6 hours ago, King Loui said:

I mentioned twice that we pay him 7.26  he get's paid 8.25 though because he's supposed to bring offense.  He's about 20 points behind what would be reasonable value, he's 31 in a few months and has been trending down offensively.  He needs to provide more for us next year

 

 Calgary scores more goals but OEL get's 10x the powerplay minutes Tanev does  

 

 

Well, to bring offense he has to have a tanev by his side. OEL has Myers.

And, on top of that, Hughes has to step down also so OEL can earn his contract.

Benning made a mess and you blame the player. 

[lmm]

5 hours ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

How is this team in cap hell? Show me who we've lost because of the cap that whole narrative needs to die already.

 

You seem like you would rather lose games but have some cap squirreled away while sucking to get a chance at a better magic bean.

And that's fine, me I could care less about draft position and fantasies where all you need is cap space and any UFA will not only sign here but do it with a discount to boot, I much prefer meaningful games in April.

Myers and OEL eat a ton of hard minutes tell who we  could of had instead, for cheaper while being younger and better?

Myers is a +19 ffs.

You guys who diss him need to turn the page, he's a different player, same with OEL who has been very solid all year and has been putting up points at a much better rate recently and they would be even higher if he had more pp time.

 

.Do you know the old Pete Seeger song Turn Turn Turn?

its a pretty good handbook for life

you might be in the 'time for hate', judging by the tone of your response

while I am probably in the 'time to cast away stones' 

that is something that I suck at and so I am perpetually there

 

Turn Turn Turn is also a good booklet for a hockey GM

there is so much there that is relevant for the running of a hockey team

'a time to plant, a time to reap'

'a time to build up, a time to break down'

'a time to cast away stones'

'a time to gather stones together'

'a time to gain, a time to lose'

'a time to rend, a time to sew'

all good lessons for a GM, or a regular person

funny though that it does not say, 

"a time for a quick turn around, a time for a fast retool'

in fact it kind of says the opposite

 

in a nutshell the song is about finishing one task before starting another

Old Jim really seemed to have difficulty with that

Many fans do, also

 

here is the song, and the words are below

 

..

Lyrics

 

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

 

And since you think you understand me,

I'll tell you about me

I don't hate OEL, although I think trading for him was a bad idea

I don't hate Myers, and I am not sure why he was brought into this conversation

I don't hate Miller, in fact I like him a lot

however I think the Miller trade happened at the wrong time for this team

Had JB done a better job in "the time to build up" 2014-2019, the Miller trade would have been in "the time to reap"

unfortunately squandered picks from 2014-19 meant Miller arrived when the Canucks were not yet in "the time to reap"

And back to OEL, 

I think when it is "A time to Dance" for the rest of the club OEL, because of his age, hard minutes and the number of hits he regularly incurs, will cause us "a time to weep" 

[-AJ-]

Slight bit of stat cherry picking here, but OEL has 12 points in his last 15 games (1g, 11a). Pretty much classic OEL lately.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[EternalCanuckFan]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:38 PM, -AJ- said:

Slight bit of stat cherry picking here, but OEL has 12 points in his last 15 games (1g, 11a). Pretty much classic OEL lately.

OEL was definitely more productive down the stretch.

 

I was critical of OEL's production for most of the season but did note that he had a very low shooting % so something was bound to improve.  I don't know if we can expect a 40+ point season from OEL next year but it's not outside the realm of possibility, particularly with an improved partner for him.  It was noticeable that OEL seemed to play better offensively when he was briefly paired with Schenn.  Small sample size yes, but I guess both Hughes and OEL need a guy like Schenn to bring the most out of their game.  It really stressed to me that management is going to do their utmost to trade Myers this summer.

[Maddogy]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:53 PM, Alflives said:

This ^^^

Benning turned Tanev into a 6 x 6 Schmidt, and then turned that into a 7.2 x 6 OEL.  Makes no sense.  

To be fair, J.B. thought Tanev was gonna be on LTIR permanently. 

[-AJ-]

1 hour ago, Maddogy said:

To be fair, J.B. thought Tanev was gonna be on LTIR permanently. 

Funny enough that Tanev has actually been super durable for the Flames since leaving Vancouver.

[MrCanuck94]

On 4/26/2022 at 9:38 PM, -AJ- said:

Slight bit of stat cherry picking here, but OEL has 12 points in his last 15 games (1g, 11a). Pretty much classic OEL lately.

Hard not to think that he won't be pushing 40 points next season once he's more climatized to the team from the get go, while only getting PP2 time.

 

With his defensive play being at the tops of the league, I'd argue he's been playing at a solid #2 level the latter half of the season.

[Boudrias]

13 hours ago, -AJ- said:

Funny enough that Tanev has actually been super durable for the Flames since leaving Vancouver.

More balanced d-core helps. Tanev hasn't logged as much TOI. IMHO Calgary breaks the puck out of the d-zone more consistently than during Tanev's time in Van. 

[-AJ-]

3 hours ago, Boudrias said:

More balanced d-core helps. Tanev hasn't logged as much TOI. IMHO Calgary breaks the puck out of the d-zone more consistently than during Tanev's time in Van. 

A better travel schedule also probably plays into it a bit.

[mll]

Friedman on his podcast says that Vancouver has tried to see if there's a market for OEL.  Insists that he holds the cards.  Per CapFriendly he has a full NMC throughout the 5 remaining years of his deal.

[AK_19]

I don't think he's tradeable. The best thing we can do now that he's on our team is put him in a better position to succeed. We certainly made him play outside his regular game to decent results. However, we've got to get him a real defensive dman and more PP time. 

[Diamonds]

I thought OEL had a good season this year. He played a primarily defensive role while still putting up 29 points. His ability to play hard minutes well also definitely alleviated some pressure off Hughes allowing Hughes to play better as well.

 

Ultimately I think OEL played more like a 6.5M player than a 7.26M player, but it's at least within the ballpark. I would love to see some more offense from him, since he's capable of it, but he was far from the problem with our defense. The real question is whether he can continue playing at the same level for the next 5 years. 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Phil_314]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:37 PM, Diamonds said:

I thought OEL had a good season this year. He played a primarily defensive role while still putting up 29 points. His ability to play hard minutes well also definitely alleviated some pressure off Hughes allowing Hughes to play better as well.

 

Ultimately I think OEL played more like a 6.5M player than a 7.26M player, but it's at least within the ballpark. I would love to see some more offense from him, since he's capable of it, but he was far from the problem with our defense. The real question is whether he can continue playing at the same level for the next 5 years. 

Agreed with all of this.  I think another question is whether we can find another defender to pair him with, with whom there would be a mutually beneficial relationship (whether both are two-way D enabling one to spring the other to lead the rush, or one plays strictly defensively while the other goes on offense almost exclusively).  Optimally we can find another Schenn to OEL's Hughes (Myers is a bit too erratic reputation-wise, and too prone to drawing penalties; on the flip-side, OEL can be the defensive partner for a mobile puck-mover).