TORONTO — Let’s flash back to a more hopeful time…
Oliver Ekman-Larsson arrives in Toronto nearly three weeks before the opening of training camp, his whole family brimming with excitement.
New season. New baby on the way. An Olympic dream waiting to be renewed.
Leo, the firstborn son of Oliver and wife Maja, is starting nursery school in Canada. And while the boy is a touch too young for skates yet, he is already buzzing around their home in a helmet and gloves, wielding a mini stick.
This September switch from Sweden to North America triggers in Leo the same sentiment it has in Dad for 16 years running.
“He’s like, ‘Hockey!’ It was like he knew that hockey season was around the corner, eh? It’s crazy,” the proud father and steady Maple Leafs defenceman beams one sunny fall day.
The news isn’t yet public, but Maja is pregnant again. Leo’s younger sibling is on the way. Smiling ear to ear, Ekman-Larsson sits down in a blue team hoodie and chats comfortably and at length with a reporter about a host of topics.
This, mind you, is before the Maple Leafs have lost one game, let alone 38 of their first 64.
The veteran touches on the challenge of losing Mitch Marner and marvels at the practice habits of Auston Matthews and makes a strong case for why Anthony Stolarz should get a raise and remain a Leaf.
He says he appreciates how much Craig Berube cares about his players, how the coach will chat with each Leaf almost every day: “Could be 15 seconds. Could be 30 minutes. I just like the way he’s always there.”
Ekman-Larsson chuckles about William Nylander’s penchant for naps. He explains how he ramped and modified his off-season training in hopes of joining Nylander on the Swedish national squad.
It’s fatherhood that really gets him gushing, though.
Leo has changed him.
“All for the better. Just, like, coming home after the loss or a tough game. Even a win, right? Like, you’re always happy seeing him around the house. And not saying that I wasn’t before, but it's a little bit easier to kind of let the hockey part go,” Ekman-Larsson says.
“It’s just fun to know that he’s watching, and obviously wifey, and they’re having a good time with the hockey part. Yeah, it’s been unbelievable. Yeah, so much fun. It’s great.”
Ekman-Larsson figures Leo is still too young to understand that Dad is hockey-famous, a Stanley Cup champion, an important cog of the sport’s most popular franchise.
“He’s just happy going to the rink and watching hockey players and giving them knuckles and high fives,” Ekman-Larsson says. “That’s kind of his whole world right now. Like, he loves that stuff. So, it’s fun sharing that with him.”
The 34-year-old continues this thread of responsibility. He says that although he doesn’t wear a letter for the Leafs that he considers himself a leader, believes he can help boost the snakebit core over the hump.
“It’s always kind of been like that for me, trying to help everybody out and trying to make everybody feel comfortable,” Ekman-Larsson says. “It’s a little bit harder when you get to a new spot. The new team usually takes a little bit longer to kind of get into that and feel like: Yeah, I’m here.”
Maybe past team switches to Vancouver and Florida had warmed him up. Maybe the four-year commitment and trade protection GM Brad Treliving offered him in free agency gave him security. Maybe the Leafs’ long, respected history with Swedes was a factor.
Whatever the case, the Ekman-Larssons felt they belonged in Toronto, fast.
“Since Day 1, I felt really good. Everybody welcomed me with an open heart,” he says. “So, it was easy here.”
Now let’s flash forward to Wednesday…
Two-time Olympian Ekman-Larsson is in the midst of a throwback campaign.
He’s been the best and most consistent Leafs defenceman all season, playing hard through injury and with any partner, lefty or righty, Berube plops by his side.
Toronto’s oldest D-man is also the only one with perfect attendance and the only one who didn’t get to catch his breath or rest his bruises during the Winter Games, when he left Maja and Leo and Baby TBD to rep his country in Milan.
With more than two years still left on his contract and only a few hours till puck drop on March, Ekman-Larsson is informed by Trelving that he’ll be sent to the press box, where he can munch popcorn and wait to see if he gets traded.
The “roster management” benching blindsides him. Unlike Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton, he doesn’t see it coming. Certainly doesn’t care for it.
Ekman-Larsson has no interest in being traded. He loves Leaf life and still believes they can rebound. He makes that clear to anyone who asks.
The baby is coming any day.
Too bad. It’s business.
Take the skates off.
Treliving would rather a first-round pick and a second-round pick and more, if he can get it.
Is there a reasonable deal on the table? Nope. Only lowballs.
Is Ekman-Larsson on an expiring contract? Nope.
But please sit and wait and sweat it out till Friday afternoon, just in case.
So, Ekman-Larsson tries to avoid phones and TVs and any device that might project bad news or worrisome rumours.
He understands what he signed up for.
He focuses on Leo.
“It’s a tough day. It’s a weird day. Just trying to keep myself busy with the little guy and worked pretty good,” Ekman-Larsson, ever the pro, tells reporters the morning after the deadline passes.
“Relief. Obviously, happy.”
He’s still a Maple Leaf, still with his soon-to-grow family in Toronto.
“I still believe in this team. Still believe we can do something special,” he says. “We’re not done yet.”
He is asked a question: Are there any fences that need to be mended, considering how the deadline played out?
Ekman-Larsson lets out a sigh.
“Ah, I don’t know,” he replies.
“Like I said, I’m just happy to still be here, and that’s what I wanted and what my family wanted, so super excited about that.
“I still have a lot of belief in this organization and love being here, so I was trying not to think about it too much... but it was pretty tough.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• The Maple Leafs have long struggled to find those rare players who simultaneously boost culture and morale off the ice while chipping in on it.
Understanding the organization can no longer afford to keep “own rentals,” there is a significant intangible loss that comes with the Scott Laughton trade. He’ll be tough to replace.
“I can’t speak highly enough about Scott Laughton,” Treliving said. “Not only his play, but he’s as quality a human as you’re going to find.”
Bingo.
• Due to a cross-continental flight delay and a wait at the border, Corey Perry didn’t check into the Lightning’s hotel until 5:30 a.m., and didn’t fall asleep till 6:30 a.m. But with family eager to come to the barn, the Ontario native wanted to make his re-debut in Toronto. He was on the first bus to the morning skate at 9:30 a.m.
Running on adrenaline and nostalgia, Perry scored in the first period.
“He transcends time,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters.
The 40-year-old Cup finalist left his wife, Blakeny, and son Griffin at home in California to hunt down another championship.
“It’s tough leaving them. But at the end of the day, you have a chance to win a Stanley Cup,” said Perry, who was on the fence about waiving his no-trade until he found out Tampa was interested. “When they called, it was pretty quick.”
Perry’s phone blew up with his old Lightning pals. Kinda felt like he never left.
“I’m excited to be here and see where this can go,” he said.
And Griffin?
“He said: ‘Go.’”
• Top-line sniper Matias Maccelli has scored in three straight games, tying a career high goal streak.
The guy has six tucks in nine games, while Auston Matthews is mired in an 11-game goal drought. Wild times.
• Max Domi didn’t appreciate Charle-Edouard D’Astous throwing a couple jabs after the combatants hit the ice. Pretty sure D’Astous didn’t appreciate Domi jumping into a fight before he had his gloves off, either.
• Working hard all night, Nick Robertson scored an unassisted wraparound goal in garbage time to tie a career high in points (27).
