Oliver Ekman-Larsson signs four-year contract with Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs keep bolstering their blueline.

After trading for, and later signing Chris Tanev to a six-year deal, the Leafs have signed veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million.

Ekman-Larsson is fresh off his first Stanley Cup victory, helping Florida win it in Game 7 over the Edmonton Oilers a week ago. It marked his first season with the club after getting bought out by the Vancouver Canucks last summer, with OEL hoping to prove he could still be a reliable NHLer. Even looking past the Cup, it was a big year for the Swedish defender. He had nine goals and 32 points, his best output since his 44-point campaign as captain of the Arizona Coyotes in 2018-19.

Drafted sixth overall by the Coyotes in 2009, Ekman-Larsson made an immediate impact as a rookie when he eventually moved over to North America two years later. He quickly emerged as one of the top puck-moving defenders in the game, signing a big six-year deal in 2013 before re-upping for eight years at $8.25 million in 2019.

That contract proved to hurt his career, though, as he saw his numbers fall for three consecutive seasons. He was later traded in a cap dump move to Vancouver in 2021, only to struggle for the most part over two years. Landing in Florida allowed him to get a much-needed kickstart for his career.

Outside of the NHL, OEL is also quite accomplished internationally. He won bronze at both the World Juniors and World Championship in 2010 before taking home silver at the 2011 World Championship. Ekman-Larsson then took silver at the 2014 Olympics before leading the World Championship in points by a defenseman with 12 the following years. He finally won gold in 2017 and 2018, beating Canada and Switzerland to make it happen.

The Leafs now have seven NHL defensemen signed to deals for 2024-25, with Tanev and Timothy Liljegren getting new pacts over the past two days.