Report: Canucks set to scratch an $8.25 million player

Tonight when the Vancouver Canucks hit the ice, they'll do so without veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Not because Ekman-Larsson is injured or ill, but because head coach Bruce Boudreau is making him a healthy scratch for the first time in Ekman-Larsson's career since his rookie season back in 2010-11.

Ekman-Larsson skated alongside healthy scratch Kyle Burroughs in today's gameday skate for the Canucks, indicating that he may be out of the lineup for their contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning. When asked after the skate whether Ekman-Larsson would indeed be scratched, head coach Bruce Boudreau responded, "that's potentially true."

At this point, all signs point to OEL watching this evening's game from the press box.

Which... if you're a Canucks fan, is about as close to rock bottom as you can get with regards to this team's trajectory.

I mean, OEL's acquisition was an absolute blockbuster deal in the 2021 offseason, arriving with forward Conor Garland in exchange for overpriced veterans Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel. The thing that makes the trade so much worse is that former Canucks GM Jim Benning packaged those players with a 2nd round pick and a 1st round pick. That 1st round pick ended up becoming 9th overall selection Dylan Guenther... the golden boy of the 2023 World Junior Championships. Flash forward less than two years later and OEL is a healthy scratch while Guenther is seen as one of the best, can't miss prospects in hockey. Ouch.

To make matters worse, OEL is signed for four more seasons at $8.25 million per season. Double ouch.

For what it's worth, OEL is 100% worthy of sitting out a game. The 31 year old has been absolutely terrible on a team and a defence corps that's amongst the worst in the NHL. He has 44 goals against at even strength, the 7th most of any defenseman in the NHL. Definitely not something you want to see when you're paying a guy $8.25 million to keep pucks out of your net. Triple ouch.

The worst part of all this is the fact that OEL has a no-move clause and so he calls all the shots. I would be very, very surprised if Canucks GM Patrik Allvin is able to offload him in a trade without massively overpaying via picks and prospects.