Oilers linked to trade for Maple Leafs’ Olympian originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Edmonton Oilers want to overcome their back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup finals.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have seemingly no choice but to be trade deadline sellers.
They might make an ideal match.
NHL insider Elliotte Friemdan, on his podcast, has suggested that the Oilers could line up a trade for Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Ekman-Larsson would give the Oilers a player who beat them in the Stanley Cup in 2023-24 with the Florida Panthers before joining the Leafs for these last two seasons.
It sounds like the veteran defenseman would much prefer to stay put, but that might be tough to carry out. Leafs reporter Nick Alberga posted this on X:
“We’ll see what happens, but he doesn’t want to go anywhere. He loves Toronto. He wants to stay in Toronto. He wants to win in Toronto.”
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This season, Ekman-Larsson has eight goals and 27 assists (35 points) in 59 games.
He played for Sweden at the Olympics, although OEL didn’t get nearly the ice time he would’ve been hoping for.
If the Oilers deal for him, Ekman-Larsson would be looking at quality action the rest of the season on a contending team. Toronto doesn’t have that to give to him.
Of course, this is the Leafs’ call, not Ekman-Larsson’s. But it would certainly feel better for an acquiring team, like the Oilers, to know that OEL wants to be there.
Edmonton could use the defensive help. Ekman-Larsson should be available from the Leafs. The Oilers should see if there’s a match.
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