Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Oliver Oscar Emanuel Ekman-Larsson (born 17 July 1991 in Karlskrona) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for and serving as a captain of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Ekman-Larsson was originally selected sixth overall by the Coyotes organization in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Seen by many as one of the league's top offensive defenseman, Ekman-Larsson led the Arizona Coyotes in scoring consecutively in both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.

Playing career
Ekman-Larsson was selected sixth overall by Phoenix in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. On 24 May 2010, it was announced that the Coyotes had signed Ekman-Larsson to an entry-level contract.

In the season following his draft selection, Ekman-Larsson produced the second most points among junior players in Allsvenskan despite missing several games while competing in the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Sweden.

Ekman-Larsson recorded his first career NHL point via an assist on a Kyle Turris goal on 23 October 2010. He then scored his first career NHL goal on 17 January 2011, against goaltender Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.

For the duration of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Ekman-Larsson on the last year of his entry-level contract was assigned to Phoenix's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Portland Pirates.

On 6 March 2014, Ekman-Larsson scored his 100th NHL career point in a 5–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. With Ekman-Larsson's contribution, it was the first time since 9 December 1998, that the Coyotes had defeated Montreal. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, Ekman-Larsson finished seventh in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the League's defenceman of the year. His votes included three first-place votes, one second-place vote and two third-place votes. Keith Yandle, Ekman-Larsson's teammate on defence, finished 12th in voting.

On 16 December 2014, during the 2014–15 season, Ekman-Larsson tied the Coyotes' franchise record for overtime-winning goals by a player in a single season after scoring his third of the season with 0.03 seconds left in overtime in a 2–1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Ekman-Larsson represented the Arizona Coyotes in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, assisting on a goal by Bobby Ryan.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson finished the 2014–15 season with 23 goals and 20 assists. With this career milestone, Ekman-Larsson broke Nicklas Lidstrom's NHL record, becoming the first Swedish-born defenseman in NHL history to score more than 20 goals in a single season. Ekman-Larsson's 23 goals were the most scored by an NHL defenseman that season, and tied Phil Housley's franchise record for most goals scored by a defenseman in a season.

On 19 December 2015, during a game against the New York Islanders Ekman-Larsson scored the lone goal of the game, which proved to be the game-winning goal. With this goal, Ekman-Larsson surpassed Teppo Numminen's franchise record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman with the 20th in his career. On January 12, 2016, Ekman-Larsson assisted on all three goals of rookie Max Domi's first career hat-trick and would later go on to set a career-high four-point night by scoring the OT-winning goal against the Edmonton Oilers.

On March 24, 2016, Ekman-Larsson inadvertently scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars. Initially credited to teammate Martin Hanzal, after further review the goal was shown to bounce off a Dallas player and into the net. With this game-winning goal, Ekman-Larsson set an NHL record for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman in a single season with his eighth — surpassing Tim Horton, Al MacInnis, Ray Bourque, Derek Morris (ice hockey), and Dion Phaneuf. He is just the second defenseman in franchise history to record 20 or more goals in consecutive seasons, the other being Phil Housley. Ekman-Larsson finished the 2015–16 season ninth in balloting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy.

In the 2016–17 season, on March 18, 2017, during a game against the Nashville Predators Ekman-Larsson scored his 40th career powerplay goal against Pekka Rinne, tying Fredrik Olausson for the most by a defenseman in Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history. On April 3, 2017, with the Coyotes out of playoff contention, Ekman-Larsson was granted a leave of absence for the remaining 3 regular seasons games in order to return to his native Sweden due to the death of his mother, after a prolonged battle with cancer.

International play
Ekman-Larsson represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior Championships, where he was the highest-scoring defenceman on the team, scoring five points in six games.

At the 2010 World Championships, Ekman-Larsson played in nine games for the bronze medalists and was deemed to be Sweden's best player in the game against Norway.

Personal life
Ekman-Larsson's maternal grandfather Kenneth Ekman, also a defenceman, was selected to represent Sweden at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Swedish international footballer Amanda Ilestedt is Ekman-Larsson's cousin.

In 2013, Ekman-Larsson founded OEL, a luxury clothing line based out of Sweden.

Records
Most game-winning-goals by a defenseman in a single NHL season (8).