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.

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]

International play


Medal record
Competitor for  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,[13] 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.[14]

Personal life

Ekman-Larsson's maternal grandfather Kenneth Ekman,[15] also a defenceman, was selected to represent Sweden at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Swedish international footballer Amanda Ilestedt is Ekman-Larsson's cousin.[16]

In 2013, Ekman-Larsson founded OEL, a luxury clothing line based out of Sweden.[17]

Ekman-Larsson's good friend and roommate happens to be teammate Mikkel Boedker.[18]

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 — — — — —
NHL totals 340 55 99 154 172 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 6 2 3 5 12
2010 Sweden WC 3rd 9 1 2 3 2
2011 Sweden WC 2nd 7 1 3 4 2
2014 Sweden Oly 2nd 6 0 3 3 2
2015 Sweden WC 5th 8 2 10 12 6
Junior totals 12 4 9 13 14
Senior totals 30 4 18 22 12

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. ↑ "IIHF WJC Championship Sweden PLAYER STATISTICS BY TEAM 2009-2010" (PDF). IIHF.com. 11 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "IIHF World Championship Best Players Per Game" (PDF). IIHF.com. 23 May 2010.
  15. ↑ Ronnie Johansson (2010-04-23). "Eliteprospects.com - Kenneth Ekman". eliteprospects.com (in Swedish).
  16. ↑ Jonsson, Fredrik (29 June 2013). "Ilestedt drömmer om en medalj i hemma-EM" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "OEL of Sweden". 2014-12-18.
  18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYA5A8MqM-Y

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Viktor Tikhonov		 Phoenix Coyotes first round draft pick
2009 		Succeeded by
Brandon Gormley
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