On the Arizona Coyotes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson …
Elliotte Friedman: There have been a few teams that have inquired about Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson who have been told that he is off the market. The Coyotes and Ekman-Larsson’s agent are not commenting, but it looks like there may be a verbal agreement. He is not eligible to officially sign a contract extension until July 1st.
Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports: The Arizona Coyotes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are closing in on an eight-year contract extension according to multiple sources.
An eight-year deal at an $8.25 million salary cap hit had been previously reported by ArizonaSports, but it’s not known if those numbers have changed.
Sources are saying that the Coyotes feel a deal is close enough that they are letting teams know he’s not available.
There are some teams that may have been willing to offer Ekman-Larsson more, but there is a lower cost of living in Arizona than in some other markets.
The deal would kick in after next season as he has a year left on his six-year, $33 million contract. He’ll earn $7 million this season.
Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson has a year left on his deal, and sources are saying that the Coyotes and Hjalmarsson are closing in on an extension as well.
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