Arizona Coyotes All-Star Break Grades – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
By Jim Lynch
Another player that really needs to step up the rest of the way is Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Larsson is a veteran captain in this league and needs to help lead the team to the playoffs.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is in no way shape or form having a career year, rather he is just flying under the radar on this team. His 22 points are by no means setting any records, and Corsi percentage of 47.6 is towards the bottom of his career. If the Coyotes are to succeed they are going to need their captain.
For the captain’s play so far this season I give a C grade. He has not been really good or bad, rather just someone you kind of don’t notice on the ice. I guess for a defenseman that is alright, but for someone once considered in the running of a Norris Trophy a few years ago, this is not really good.
I also want to see the captain lead more during the game. Recently while watching I have seen players like Taylor Hall rally the troops from time to time during a game, while this is a good thing this is Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s team, and the Coyotes captain needs to start showing that.
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We once saw Oliver Ekman-Larsson represent his team at the NHL all-star game a long time ago, let’s see if we can return to those ways next year. Ekman-Larsson was once one of the top defensemen in the NHL, now he has even fallen in his teams standings a little thanks to other defensemen stepping up to the plate. The best way to start getting Oliver back on track is by having a strong second half of the year! Whether that means making great stops in the teams own end, playing a good transitional game, or scoring goals.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is tasked in leading a team that has not made the playoffs in such a long time back to the playoffs, although that might be a daunting task at times, they all just need to take it one game at a time and hope for the best!