Insider Lists 8 Possible Landing Spots for Oliver Ekman-Larsson

After an "off" couple of seasons in Vancouver, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is now free to peddle his services to any team. The Canucks had tried to trade him at the deadline to offload his bloated contract, but with no takers, they had to eat $19.3M this past week in a buyout.

OEL registered his lowest point total (22) and lowest TOI (20:11) since his rookie season 13 years ago. He also had a minus-24 in just 54 games with the Canucks this past season.

Seeing as he'll still earn nearly $2.5M in buyout money annually, it shouldn't cost a lot to sign him up. What teams around the NHL might be interested in the soon-to-be 32-year-old defenseman on the decline?

Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin proposes eight teams that might bite, in alphabetical order:

Boston Bruins
Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
NY Islanders
Seattle Kraken
Tampa Bay Lightning
Vegas Golden Knights

Many of these teams have a solid top-four on the blueline, so EOL wouldn't be expected to carry a heavy load. In particular, the Golden Knights and Hurricanes would offer soft landing spots for him. The Lightning and Bruins are two teams that know how to rehabilitate a fading veteran, and would also be good spots, notes Larkin, while Ekman-Larsson could take on a veteran mentoring role for incoming Swedish countryman Simon Edvinsson in Detroit.

Photo: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports