Arizona Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson: Career-High Points in 2015-16

Arizona Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson Passes Single-Season Career High in Points

Arizona Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson was taken 6th overall in 2009, and is since playing his sixth season in the Desert. In 397 career regular season games, Ekman-Larsson has 72 goals and 127 assists – totaling 199 career points.

He was +5 (plus/minus) through his first three seasons, only to drop to -34 over his last three.

The drop in plus/minus is due to a combination of factors. First, the Coyotes aren’t as competitive a team as they were a few years back when Mike Smith was offering up Vezina-worthy performances. Second, After being number two next to Keith Yandle for a couple of years, Ekman-Larsson stepped into the number one spot in 2015-16, logging top minutes from the back-end, facing off against the opponents best line every night.

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For a player more offensively inclined such as OEL, you take the good with the bad. He’s going to help produce a lot more offense than more responsibly defensive blueliners, but he’s also going to give up more goals against.

Arizona Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson ranks 20th among NHL defenseman in points (199) since 2010-11 (when he entered the league). He also ranked 5th in goals among blueliners with 72 over that span. This is largely due to his powerplay presence. OEL is arguably the NHL’s top powerplay quarterback. Of his 199 career points, 85 have come on the powerplay – including 31 goals. Nearly half of his points in each season have come on the PP – with 2015-16 being the exception, so far. 25 of his 45 points, and 11 of his 17 goals have come on the man advantage this year.

Thursday night’s 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars marked a special night for Arizona Coyotes D Oliver-Ekman Larsson. He only finished the night with an assist, but it was his 45th point of the campaign, surpassing his single-season career high of 44 points back in 2013-14 – all of this in 57 games! With 25 games remaining for the Coyotes, OEL is on pace for approximately 24 goals and 64 points (35 PP Points) in 2015-16.

One of the game’s most offensively gifted blueliners will continue to grow and get better as he matures, and team around him gets better. A high hockey IQ, Oliver Ekman-Larsson reads the play well on the ice. He knows when to join the rush, and when/when not to pinch at the blueline. He’s progressively getting better in his own-end, but could improve his positioning and gap control.

Luckily, his defensive lapses can be well hidden with a stronger defensive partner. Unfortunately, the Coyotes don’t have a blueliner worthy of top pair minutes (at the moment). 22-year-old Connor Murphy (20th overall in 2011) is making a solid case for long-term value alongside OEL – however if the Coyotes are able to get their hands on a top defenseman in this year’s draft (i.e. Jakob Chychrun or Olli Juolevi), Murphy can log big minutes on the second pairing, while OEL gets a true top pair defender to play with.

Next: NHL Trade Deadline: 25 Hypothetical Deals

Is there any chance that Arizona Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson ever wins a Norris Trophy? He doesn’t have the same offensive prowess as fellow Swede Erik Karlsson, but there’s something to be said about his special teams abilities. What will it take for OEL to take home the hardware for NHL’s best defenseman? Does he need to produce in the Karlsson range? Help carry his team into the playoffs? Get better in his own end? Let us know what you think.

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