Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Born (1991-07-17) 17 July 1991
Karlskrona, Sweden
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Arizona Coyotes
Leksands IF
National team  Sweden
NHL Draft 6th overall, 2009
Phoenix Coyotes
Playing career 2007–present

Oliver Oscar Emanuel Ekman-Larsson (born 17 July 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman[1] currently playing for and serving as an alternate captain of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Ekman-Larsson was originally selected sixth overall by the Coyotes organization in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Seen by many as one of the league's top offensive defenseman, Ekman-Larsson led the Arizona Coyotes in scoring consecutively in both the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons.

Playing career

Ekman-Larsson was selected sixth overall by Phoenix in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. On 24 May 2010, it was announced that the Coyotes had signed Ekman-Larsson to an entry-level contract.[2]

In the season following his draft selection, Ekman-Larsson produced the second most points among junior players in Allsvenskan[3] despite missing several games while competing in the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Sweden.

Ekman-Larsson recorded his first career NHL point via an assist on a Kyle Turris goal on 23 October 2010.[4] He then scored his first career NHL goal on 17 January 2011, against goaltender Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.

For the duration of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Ekman-Larsson on the last year of his entry-level contract was assigned to Phoenix's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates.

On 6 March 2014, Ekman-Larsson scored his 100th NHL career point in a 5–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. With Ekman-Larsson's contribution, it was the first time since 9 December 1998, that the Coyotes had defeated Montreal.[5] At the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, Ekman-Larsson finished seventh in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the League's defenceman of the year. His votes included three first-place votes, one second-place vote and two third-place votes. Keith Yandle, Ekman-Larsson's teammate on defence, finished 12th in voting.[6]

On 16 December 2014, during the 2014–15 season, Ekman-Larsson tied the Coyotes' franchise record for overtime-winning goals by a player in a single season after scoring his third of the season with 0.03 seconds left in overtime in a 2–1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.[7] Ekman-Larsson represented the Arizona Coyotes in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, assisting on a goal by Bobby Ryan.[8]

Oliver Ekman-Larsson finished the 2014–15 season with 23 goals and 20 assists. With this career milestone, Ekman-Larsson broke Nicklas Lidstrom's NHL record, becoming the first Swedish-born defenseman in NHL history to score more than 20 goals in a single season.[9] Ekman-Larsson's 23 goals were the most scored by an NHL defenseman that season, and tied Phil Housley's franchise record for most goals scored by a defenseman in a season.[10]

On 19 December 2015, during a game against the New York Islanders Ekman-Larsson scored the lone goal of the game, which proved to be the game-winning goal. With this goal, Ekman-Larsson surpassed Teppo Numminen's franchise record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman with the 20th in his career.[11] On January 12, 2016, Ekman-Larsson assisted on all three goals of rookie Max Domi's first career hat trick and would later go on to set a career-high four-point night by scoring the OT-winning goal against the Edmonton Oilers.[12]

On March 24, 2016, Ekman-Larsson inadvertently scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars. Initially credited to teammate Martin Hanzal, after further review the goal was shown to bounce off a Dallas player and into the net. With this game-winning goal, Ekman-Larsson set an NHL record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman in a single season with his eighth — surpassing Tim Horton, Al MacInnis, Ray Bourque, Derek Morris (ice hockey), and Dion Phaneuf. He is just the second defenseman in franchise history to record 20 or more goals in consecutive seasons, the other being Phil Housley.[13] Ekman-Larsson finished the 2015-16 season ninth in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy.[14]

International play


Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Men's ice hockey
Winter Olympics
2014 Sochi
World Championships
2011 Slovakia
2010 Germany
World Junior Championships
2010 Canada

Ekman-Larsson represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior Championships, where he was the highest-scoring defenceman on the team,[15] scoring five points in six games.

At the 2010 World Championships, Ekman-Larsson played in nine games for the bronze medalists and was deemed to be Sweden's best player in the game against Norway.[16]

Personal life

Ekman-Larsson's maternal grandfather Kenneth Ekman,[17] also a defenceman, was selected to represent Sweden at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Swedish international footballer Amanda Ilestedt is Ekman-Larsson's cousin.[18]

In 2013, Ekman-Larsson founded OEL, a luxury clothing line based out of Sweden.[19]

Records

Most game-winning-goals by a defenseman in a single NHL season (8).[20]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2007–08 Tingsryds AIF Div.1 27 3 5 8 10 — — — — —
2008–09 Leksands IF Allsv 39 3 14 17 32 — — — — —
2009–10 Leksands IF Allsv 42 9 18 27 98 — — — — —
2010–11 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 48 1 10 11 24 — — — — —
2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL 15 3 7 10 16 — — — — —
2011–12 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 13 19 32 32 16 1 3 4 8
2012–13 Portland Pirates AHL 20 7 14 21 28 — — — — —
2012–13 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 48 3 21 24 26 — — — — —
2013–14 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 80 15 29 44 50 — — — — —
2014–15 Arizona Coyotes NHL 82 23 20 43 40 — — — — —
2015–16 Arizona Coyotes NHL 75 21 34 55 96 — — — — —
NHL totals 415 76 133 209 268 16 1 3 4 8

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2009 Sweden U18 5th 6 2 6 8 2
2010 Sweden WJC 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 6 2 3 5 12
2010 Sweden WC 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 9 1 2 3 2
2011 Sweden WC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 7 1 3 4 2
2014 Sweden Oly 2nd, silver medalist(s) 6 0 3 3 2
2015 Sweden WC 5th 8 2 10 12 6
2016 Sweden WCH 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 4 0 0 0 4
Junior totals 12 4 9 13 14
Senior totals 34 4 18 22 16

References

  1. ↑ "Oliver Ekman-Larsson". eurohockey.net. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  2. ↑ Phoenix Coyotes (2010-05-24). "Coyotes sign first round draft choice to entry level contract". coyotes.nhl.com.
  3. ↑ Elite Prospects. "2009 - 2010 Allsvenskan u20". eliteprospects.com.
  4. ↑ "Hurricanes vs. Coyotes". coyotes.nhl.com. 2010-10-23.
  5. ↑ "Coyotes Beat Canadiens for First Time Since '98". coyotes.nhl.com. 2014-03-06.
  6. ↑ "Ekman-Larsson Places Seventh in Norris Trophy Voting; Yandle Places 12th". coyotes.nhl.com. 2013-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Coyotes top Oilers in final second of OT". National Hockey League. 2014-12-16.
  8. ↑ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=748017
  9. ↑ http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nhl-west/pacific/oliver-ekman-larsson-makes-history-with-21st-goal/
  10. ↑ http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475171
  11. ↑ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=793694&navid=DL|ARI|home
  12. ↑ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=797383
  13. ↑ http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=875892
  14. ↑ "Brent Burns finishes third in Norris Trophy voting". fearthefin.com. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  15. ↑ "IIHF WJC Championship Sweden PLAYER STATISTICS BY TEAM 2009-2010" (PDF). IIHF.com. 11 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "IIHF World Championship Best Players Per Game" (PDF). IIHF.com. 23 May 2010.
  17. ↑ Ronnie Johansson (2010-04-23). "Eliteprospects.com - Kenneth Ekman". eliteprospects.com (in Swedish).
  18. ↑ Jonsson, Fredrik (29 June 2013). "Ilestedt drömmer om en medalj i hemma-EM" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "OEL of Sweden". 2014-12-18.
  20. ↑ "Ekman-Larsson set record with game winning goals". National Hockey League. 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Viktor Tikhonov		 Phoenix Coyotes first round draft pick
2009 		Succeeded by
Brandon Gormley
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