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The Vancouver Canucks are paying Oliver Ekman-Larsson a hefty sum to join another team.Vancouver plans to buy out the highly paid defenseman, his agent Kevin Epp told CHEK's Rick Dhaliwal. Ekman-Larsson will become an unrestricted free agent as a result.The veteran blue-liner has four years remaining on the eight-year pact he signed with the Arizona Coyotes on July 1, 2018. It carried an $8.25-million cap hit before the buyout. The Canucks will now pay him nearly $20 million over the next eight years.
Massive buyout for Oliver Ekman-Larsson sprinkled over the next 8 years. The #Canucks are paying him $19.5 million in real cash to go away, per @CapFriendly. pic.twitter.com/zSwNBPHLPh— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 16, 2023
The Canucks acquired Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland in a July 2021 trade with the Coyotes. Vancouver sent Arizona three draft picks, including a first-rounder that become Dylan Guenther, plus forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel.
This could mean the opposite. This gives them more money to spend now, and one less unreliable D.
They are probably going to do the Canucks thing where they sign or trade for some other low impact player.