Confirmed Signing with Link: [FLA] D Oliver Ekman-Larsson signs with the Panthers (1 year, $2.25M)

[TSBruins13]

He signed with the Panthers not the lightning

This guy missed the 2023 playoffs apparently

 

[Necrobutcher]

For some reason i started to think about an another bought out Dman Ryan Suter and who the Stars signed him for 4x3,65m and now i feel even better about this deal.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

This guy missed the 2023 playoffs apparently

He’s used to turning off the TV in April, don’t mind him

 

[Love]

Good deal for the panthers

 

[CaptainScrewy]

He signed with the Panthers not the lightning

haha we love you man. you're a legend to Panther fans, just FYI.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Good signing. I think he could surprise & be a better player than some are expecting. He was really good his first year here.

 

[TS Quint]

How is the contrat announced already?

NHL doesn’t care about tampering. Never have. it’s impossible to stop.

Teams “allowing” players to talk to other teams before trades is the most overrated thing on these boards.

 

[izzy]

I think he will thrive in fla

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

He’s used to turning off the TV in April, don’t mind him

My dude's team just signed Ryan Reaves and Josh Bailey, down extremely bad

 

[RandV]

It’s a great opportunity for him to rebound with a stronger team. Affordable show me deal bolsters the Panthers defence. Don’t think he replaces Staal as brought up, as they will have different roles with the team. It should allow them to spread out minutes and brings another experienced player in to help cover during injury depletions.

Being on a stronger team isn't what's going to matter here. OEL was fine in his first season with Vancouver, far from earning his 7M cap hit but still a reliable top 4 defender. Year 2 he hit some injuries early and was just terrible through the season, to the point that when he was out of the lineup with another injury at the end of the season Vancouver's blue line actually improved using AHL callups and college free agent signings instead of him.

Which OEL will show up in 2023-24? Being optimistic I would hope for the first OEL, in which case great deal for Florida. If it's the latter though then it doesn't matter how much better Florida is than Vancouver it's a waste of cap space. Obviously Vancouver didn't want to take that gamble here when he had a $7M cap hit.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

He'll do fine on Florida's bottom pairing when he's healthy.

 

[Kryten]

Id like to congratulate OEL

 

[RebuildinVan]

At least he's an upgrade over Marc Staal. Marc will no longer have to be played in the top 4.

If its the OEL we had last he may not be. He got walked...alot last year and couldnt win a board battle against my daughters

 

[William H Bonney]

Another porous defender, just what the Panthers need!

 

[nergish]

I think he will thrive in fla

The guy’s issue is passion/compete. He’s not finding that in Florida.

This is a one year contract that will end with a sun tan.

 

[Breakers]

give him a partner who can really excel in defending off the rush


because OEL was in the bottom percentile for defenceman in getting absolutely torched off the rush.

 

[Dread Clawz]

At least he's an upgrade over Marc Staal. Marc will no longer have to be played in the top 4.

I wouldn't rule out Staal. OEL is just there to run our pp while Montour and Ek are out.

 

[BayStBullies]

Worth the gamble, nice move

 

[iFan]

a serviceable #7 D man...

 

[bossram]

He was cooked last season. But Florida has been a pretty good rehab location for a lot of other reclamation projects.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Broke his foot playing for Sweden last summer, and it affected him all last season, until he shut it down.

If he's healthy, a good deal for the Panthers.

Zero risk for them.

 

[Green Blank Stare]

He is DONE. No chance this works out and I can't believe a team that was in the Finals took a chance on this bum.

 

[biturbo19]

Fully expect him to turn back into a solid player for the Panthers. They've got some weird fountain of youth, performance boosting effects down in that swamp water or something. After that blueline that they took to the Cup Finals...something janky is going on there. And it'll probably apply to OEL too.

 

[biturbo19]

Broke his foot playing for Sweden last summer, and it affected him all last season, until he shut it down.

If he's healthy, a good deal for the Panthers.

Zero risk for them.

Yeah. You could see from the start of last year that he was not healthy. It really affected his already declining mobility until he finally called it quits for the season.

If he's healthier and that foot and mobility have recovered, i could easily see him getting back to being a really useful Top-4D for them. He played like a solid Top-4D even in a role he wasn't particularly suited for the year before that for Vancouver. Don't think that's so far in the rearview mirror that it's not attainable again. Depending on the health obviously.


Florida also employ a system that seems to really shelter defencemen with diminished mobility. Half their defence last year were absolute slugs (Ekblad, Staal, Gudas) and it didn't seem to impact them too detrimentally overall. OEL should be at least that mobile even if he's injured, and better if he's not. He can also move the puck and probably hasn't completely forgotten how to chip in offensively...if he can get onto a powerplay somewhere there.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Will still be trash in Florida