Oliver Ekman-Larsson | #23 | D

[Alflives]

10 minutes ago, Phil_314 said:

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).

If we could move out all of Myers’ cap and find another Schenn (a guy who can fill the Myers’ role for minimum cost) that’s huge.  Then we have a much better balanced cap across our top four:

Hughes Schenn 8.6

OEL ? 8.5

Bone Dermott 2.5

Burroughs .8

That's a D cost we can work with.  Less than 20 mil.  

[lmm]

57 minutes ago, Alflives said:

If we could move out all of Myers’ cap and find another Schenn (a guy who can fill the Myers’ role for minimum cost) that’s huge.  Then we have a much better balanced cap across our top four:

Hughes Schenn 8.6

OEL ? HUnt

Bone Dermott 2.5

Burroughs .8

That's a D cost we can work with.  Less than 20 mil.  

I fixed it for you

[Smashian Kassian]

4 hours ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

 

Could get used to seeing this.

 

Has Sweden named a captain for their team? If not you'd have to think OEL would be in the mix.

[Diamonds]

2 hours ago, Phil_314 said:

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).

I don't necessarily dislike Myers, but if we're able to clear his full cap hit I wouldn't be opposed to trading him. 

 

I wonder if OEL would pair well with Colin Miller. Miller should be available for pretty cheap in free agency (probably in the 2-2.5M range).

[higgyfan]

30 minutes ago, Diamonds said:

I don't necessarily dislike Myers, but if we're able to clear his full cap hit I wouldn't be opposed to trading him. 

 

I wonder if OEL would pair well with Colin Miller. Miller should be available for pretty cheap in free agency (probably in the 2-2.5M range).

Imagine a right side that looked like...

 

Hughes    Subban

OEL     C Miller

Rathbone   Schenn

 

Who's say the d is too small now?

[Smashian Kassian]

 

[Fred65]

23 hours ago, higgyfan said:

Imagine a right side that looked like...

 

Hughes    Subban

OEL     C Miller

Rathbone   Schenn

 

Who's say the d is too small now?

Well certainly add expeience, Miller is 30 and Subban 32

[higgyfan]

2 minutes ago, Fred65 said:

Well certainly add expeience, Miller is 30 and Subban 32

Just placeholders until a pick/trade/prospect can make the jump. I've decided that Rutta would be a better signing than

Subban.  Way better defensively.

[Fred65]

5 hours ago, higgyfan said:

Just placeholders until a pick/trade/prospect can make the jump. I've decided that Rutta would be a better signing than

Subban.  Way better defensively.

Ah! the grass is alays greener LOL

[Googlie]

Played with an edge today & was involved in a couple of post-whistle scrums.  Responsibility sits well with him

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

So no training until mid July?  That’s not too bad.  He will get in a good two months of work still.  

OEL plays hard.  He blocks shots and is physically engaged on and off pucks.  

[SergioMomesso]

Can’t believe they have yet to develop a skate that can absorb the impact of a puck to protect from a fracture. 

[-AJ-]

2 hours ago, SergioMomesso said:

Can’t believe they have yet to develop a skate that can absorb the impact of a puck to protect from a fracture. 

I'm sure they have, but doing so while still maintaining a high degree of mobility is likely the trick.

[NucknAsia]

On 4/15/2022 at 3:38 AM, 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. 

Happily sell Myers high and find someone who can be a stay at home player for cheaper. I wonder how much of Meyer's improvement can also be attributed to OEL playing more defensively? That impacted OEL's numbers and makes Meyers look better.

 

There is a market for Meyers, he's only got 2 years left, big RD who can skate are hard to find, the issue becomes who replaces him. I'd like to see Lybushkin and Manson (hard to get I know) or Colin Miller signed.

 

Those guys will come cheaper, are physical, stay at home D. That would likely allow OEL to also start bringing more offense 5 on 5. Quinn seems to take 1.5 mins of the 2 mins on the PP so OEL was limited there this year too. He was clearly very good when Quinn was out.

[bigbadcanucks]

4 hours ago, SergioMomesso said:

Can’t believe they have yet to develop a skate that can absorb the impact of a puck to protect from a fracture. 

Do you remember the old Lange and Micron fortified plastic boot that defencemen were wearing back in the 70s and early 80s?  It's been invented and tried.  Wasn't very good (I remember a couple of dmen on my minor bantam team played on Lange skates...hard as a rock, but stiff as a, well, pair of Lange skates).

[bigbadcanucks]

11 hours ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

Could only happen to a Canuck.  Hockey Gods indiscriminate about when and where they go after a Canuck player. 

 

I've had two in my lifetime (both in the past five years and in the exact same spot on my left foot) and they heal pretty quickly and with very little side effects.  Only complaints were it hurt like hell when waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and walking boot was a pain in the ass.  But I'm no professional athlete that relies on my feet for a living and have no idea how severe OEL's fracture is, so all I can say is that I hope he heals fast and well.

[Snake Doctor]

Love the player. Hate the cap hit. It’s that simple.

[higgyfan]

1 hour ago, Snake Doctor said:

Love the player. Hate the cap hit. It’s that simple.

Don't mind the cap hit, hate the term.

[JamesB]

1 hour ago, Snake Doctor said:

Love the player. Hate the cap hit. It’s that simple.

 

28 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

Don't mind the cap hit, hate the term.

Ok guys, let's compromise. OEL is a very good player but his cap hit is too high AND the term is too long. 

 

That said, it is not too far out of line. If his cap hit was 6 million instead of 7.26 and the term was a year shorter, he would be pretty good value. And even in the final year of his contract (when he will be 35) he should still be a decent player..

 

Looking ahead to next year, he would be even more valuable with the right partner. In fact, the OEL-Schenn pairing was very good. I just went to Natural Stat Trick and checked all the Canuck D pairings with at least 60 mins. The best expected goals percentage (the best available measure of combined offense and defence) on the team was turned in by OEL and Schenn, and it was not close. And that was in very tough minutes -- lots of D-zone starts and playing a "matchup" role.  

 

Also, if the Canucks did something "outside the box" like trade Hughes for a massive return, OEL would become even more valuable as a PP QB.