NHL Rumors: Canucks' Defenceman Not Waiving No-Move Clause

Amidst the horrible start to the season and trade rumours surrounding many of the members of the Vancouver Canucks, Oliver Ekman-Larsson's name has come up. David Pagnotta reported that the Canucks would like to move Ekman-Larsson, but he isn't waiving his no-move clause.

He has a full no-move clause and four more years remaining on his deal at $7.26 million AAV. He may have the worst contract on the Canucks and he hasn't played like the player the team expected when they traded for him. What they failed to realize is that Ekman-Larsson was playing in a top-pairing role for the Arizona Coyotes, was relied on offensively, and was the power-play quarterback. On the Canucks, Quinn Hughes is relied on for all of those.

As the second-highest paid defenceman and third-highest paid player on the team, Ekman-Larsson has failed to produce offensively and is part of the problem the team has on defence. He has six goals and 36 points in 96 games as a member of the Canucks, which is a 0.38 points-per-game. In 11 seasons with the Coyotes he recorded 128 goals and 388 points in 769 games, a 0.5 points-per-game.

If Ekman-Larsson isn't willing to be traded, he will have to significantly improve his play for the next number of seasons and prove he is worth the money he is being paid. If he doesn't, the Canucks will continue to struggle to even make the playoffs and may have to go through a rebuild/retool with him on their roster.