In a season that’s been largely forgettable so far for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been a bright spot.

The 34-year-old defenceman inked a four-year contract with the Maple Leafs prior to the 2024-25 season, and has seemingly stepped into the fountain of youth in his second year with the team. Ekman-Larsson has seven goals and 25 points in 41 games for the Leafs in 2025-26, only four points off of his total from last season, and he’s already got three more goals than he did last season, too. His performance this year has been enough to earn him a spot on Team Sweden for the upcoming Olympics in Milan, Italy, returning to represent his country on the Olympic stage for the first time since 2014.

Steven Lorentz, who was teammates with Ekman-Larsson on the Cup-winning Florida Panthers team in 2023-24 and came to Toronto in the same offseason, was glowing over the news that his friend will be heading to the Olympics.

“I was so proud of him,” Lorentz told reporters. “It’s been a little while for a lot of these guys and he’s earned every opportunity, he’s put himself in such a good spot and he’s been such a rockstar for us not just last year but this year, with the injuries on our back end. You put him in these situations and you can see the side of him, the competitor, the grit that, you know, I don’t think a lot of people expected that in his game.”

While Lorentz knows who he’ll be pulling for at the Olympics, he admitted it will be hard not to root for Ekman-Larsson and some of his other teammates.

“It’s weird, because you obviously want Canada to do well, being a Canadian boy, but there’s going to be guys that I’m going to be pulling for.”

Max Domi was a rookie in the early stages of Ekman-Larsson’s career with the then-Phoenix Coyotes and reflected on the veteran being at the centre of one of his first milestones.

“My first NHL point was on his goal, so that was pretty cool,” Domi told reporters at Tuesday’s morning skate. “He took me under his wing, myself and Anthony Duclair when we first got into the league at 20 years old. At the time I looked at him like he was a 30-year-old and he was only three years older than me, which is crazy now looking back at those ages and the role model he was to us.”

With the Olympic break still a month away, the Maple Leafs will keep their attention on hosting the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

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