Pending UFA Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be a name to watch after bounce-back season

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has had quite the bounceback season with the Florida Panthers, scoring nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in the regular season, including a goal and three assists for four points in 12 postseason games.

Early in the season, the Panthers were dealing with quite a few injuries on their blue line, and Ekman-Larsson stepped up, playing more than 22 minutes in 18 games this season, including five with over 25 minutes.

After the Vancouver Canucks bought out his eight-year, $66 million contract — four years into the deal — he signed a one-year deal with the Panthers, Ekman-Larsson will become an unrestricted free agent after the season. At the age of 32, the veteran defenseman may look for one last big contract, and that may mean leaving the sunshine state.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Panther defenseman’s resurgence and what he could end up doing as we head into the offseason.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Oliver Ekman-Larsson was bought out by the Vancouver Canucks, goes to Florida and early in the season, he was logging huge minutes for them while they dealt with injuries.

Can you see him leaving his current situation or do you think he’s destined to stay where they are?

Frank Seravalli: I have a real question mark about Ekman-Larsson, just because I think the Panthers would desperately want him to stay with the impact he’s made, but they have so many other pieces to sign like Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour. They’ve got a whole list of guys they need to keep.

When you look at Ekman-Larsson, he’s played back to a level that’s not quite the $8.25 million he signed for with the Arizona Coyotes, but certainly a healthy raise from the $2.25 million he’s making right now.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…