If irony were a hockey statistic, the Vancouver Canucks would lead the league. This year the man putting up the most points on the Canucks’ books isn’t even in Vancouver. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, bought out in 2023, is now with the Maple Leafs and has 25 points in 40 games – the same number as Elias Pettersson, who actually plays for Vancouver.
Yet the Canucks are still writing him a check for almost $4.8 million not to play for them. That’s more than the cap hit he wears in Toronto, which only adds to the absurdity.
Canucks fans watch their team battle, and…
It’s the kind of crazy hockey “thing” you wonder about. Fans watch their team struggle at the bottom of the league in goals scored, while a player they paid to leave the franchise puts up bigger numbers than anyone on their own team.
Ekman-Larsson has quietly scored seven goals and 25 points, and he’s tied with the league’s best defensemen at five-on-five. The Canucks’ leading scorer at even strength? Linus Karlsson, with 16. The contrast is sharp, almost comically cruel. The best offensive production in the books comes from someone wearing a different jersey entirely.
And it’s not just the numbers. Ekman-Larsson has been rewarded for his form with a place in the Swedish Olympic team. It’s a reminder to Canucks fans that he is not only productive but thriving. Meanwhile, Vancouver continues to pay for a past problem. While the contract seemed reasonable at the time, it now looks more like a punch line in cap management.
That’s where the irony really begins. The buyout was intended to create space and give the squad some breathing room, and it did help a bit. But here we are a few years later and still paying the bill as Ekman-Larsson’s play continues to point out the holes in Vancouver’s lineup.
Hockey contracts are strange, but a player’s production can be even stranger
Hockey contracts can be strange, but this one takes it to a new level. Ekman-Larsson succeeds, Vancouver struggles, and the wage math only underlines the absurdity.
The situation is a strange reminder that money and talent don’t always align. Sometimes the player you pay to leave is the team’s best offensive weapon. For Canucks fans, it’s painful. For anyone with a penchant for irony, this is the perfect case study.
Related: Several injuries raise concerns around Olympic hockey rosters
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