Should the Boston Bruins have bit the bullet and made a blockbuster deal for the Arizona Coyotes stud defenceman?
When Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s self-imposed deadline to be dealt of Friday, October 9th hit, a few eyebrows were raised. OEL didn’t make it easy on the Arizona Coyotes. Only giving them two teams he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for and only giving them a couple of weeks to get a deal done. The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks nonetheless decided the asking price was too much for the 29-year-old defenceman.
On the Boston Bruins’ end, it was reported that the Coyotes preferred the Bruins’ prospects to that of the Canucks. That same report stated that Arizona general manager Bill Armstrong wanted a better package of prospects than what the Boston Bruins were proposing.
That immediately sounds like Urho Vaakanainen and Jack Studnicka territory which should make every Bruins fan cringe. These are A+ prospects who look like future centrepieces of this franchise.
Would Oliver Ekman-Larsson be worth it?
What would’ve Oliver Ekman-Larsson brought to the Boston Bruins?
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a first pairing left-shooting defenceman who will give you a consistent effort night in and night out. This guy is a minute muncher who can give you over 20 minutes a game easily. OEL can quarterback the power play but also kill penalties for his team.
A leader for the Arizona Coyotes, Ekman-Larsson was named captain in 2018 and is a player respected around the league. OEL is good for 40 points a year from the back end.
Knowing what we do now, Ekman-Larsson would bring some much-needed reinforcements to the left side of the Boston Bruins’ defence corps. With Torey Krug signing with the St. Louis Blues and Zdeno Chara still unsigned, there is a noticeable weakness on the left side.
Let’s say the Boston Bruins did the Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade and re-sign Chara which still seems very probable…
LD: 1. Oliver Ekman-Larsson 2. Matt Grzelcyk 3. Zdeno Chara
RD: 1. Charlie McAvoy 2. Brandon Carlo 3. Connor Clifton
Talk about a D-corps! How fun would that have been to watch? There certainly would have been no worries on the back end.
The cost would certainly have been steep for a talent like Oliver Ekman-Larsson. But knowing now that the Boston Bruins struck out on all of the big free agents, it seems more than ever that the front office might have missed out by not dealing for the defensive stalwart.