Maple Leafs’ Oliver-Ekman Larsson plays in 1,000th game

When the puck dropped Wednesday night between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson officially played in his 1,000th career NHL regular-season game.

Going into Wednesday’s game, Ekman-Larsson had a goal and five assists for six points in 17 games with the Maple Leafs.

Now in his 15th NHL season, the 33-year-old native of Karlskrona, Sweden, recorded 145 goals and 332 assists for 477 points in his first 999 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes.

In a pregame interview with NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy, Ekman-Larsson says he doesn’t feel like he’s been around for that long.

“You dream about playing one game in this league, and here I am 15 years later,” Ekman-Larsson said. “You feel very fortunate that you’ve got a chance to play for a long time. It’s not easy to stick in this league, so it’s a lot of work that goes into it.”

Ekman-Larsson, taken No. 6 overall by the Coyotes in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, says you have to approach playing in the NHL like you want to get better each day.

“(You) work on your game every single day and have that drive where you want to get better, because that’s how you have a long career.”

Through the 2024-25 regular season, the Maple Leafs are 9-6-2 with 20 points, second in the Atlantic Division and three points behind the Panthers, Ekman-Larsson’s old team.

Last season, he scored nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points and 76 penalty minutes in 80 regular-season games, following that up with two goals and four assists for six points in 24 playoff games, helping Florida win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.