The Florida Panthers are coming off their most successful season in franchise history. The Panthers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals as the unlikely 8th seed but couldn’t top Vegas in the end. So, with free agency upon us, the Cats wasted no time in restructuring their team.
It was announced that the Panthers signed veteran defenceman Oliver Ekman Larsson to a one-year contract worth $2.25 million. This will be the third team that Ekman Larsson has played for. He previously played for the Arizona Coyotes and most recently the Vancouver Canucks.
Ekman Larsson was drafted 6th overall in 2009 by the Coyotes. He has since played over 900 NHL games, scoring 139 goals and over 430 points in his career. Internationally Ekman Larsson has represented his home country of Sweden in over 10 tournaments including the 2014 Winter Olympics and four times at the IIHF World Championship winning gold at two of them.
Ekman Larsson has been performing poorly the past couple of seasons. Given the Panthers depth of defenceman in Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, it is likely he will play at one of their bottom lines, serving as a depth piece.