Through the first two months, the 2025-26 season hasn’t started the way Toronto Maple Leafs fans have wished or hoped for, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s strong start to the year shouldn’t be lost in frustration. The 16-year veteran has quietly posted 17 points in 23 games, tied for fourth on the team with Morgan Rielly, trailing only William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies.

Currently riding a seven-game point streak (2 goals, 5 assists) while finding the score sheet in 10 of the team’s past 11 games, Ekman-Larsson is going through one of the best offensive stretches of his career. With 17 points on the season, Ekman-Larsson is tied for 12th overall among NHL defenceman, trailing many elite offensive blueliners in Cale Makar, Zach Werenski and Quinn Hughes, all of whom are the catalysts for top unit power plays. Ekman-Larsson is tied for fourth among all NHL defencemen in points at 5-on-5, along with Zach Werenski, Noah Dobson, Evan Bouchard, and John Carlson.

Although the Maple Leafs are arguably the worst defensive team in the NHL this year, the Leafs are winning when Ekman-Larsson is on the ice. Ekman-Larsson has been primarily paired with Rielly, and the Leafs control 63 percent of the expected goals when they’re on the ice together at 5-on-5, along with a plus-one (9-8) goal differential via Natural Stat Trick. Toronto controls 53 percent of the expected goals with Ekman-Larsson on the ice at 5-on-5, with a plus-four goal differential (23-19) and he’s making a concerted effort to generate secondary scoring.

Ekman-Larsson is often on the Leafs’ second power play unit, which makes his offensive output all the more impressive to start the year. The 34-year-old set his career-high with 55 points during the 2015-16 season, and Ekman-Larsson is within range of pacing towards that total, if he can maintain his current level of production. And it’s all the more remarkable, given the way his career was trending a few years ago.

Ekman-Larsson was bought out by the Vancouver Canucks with four years remaining on his 8-year, $66-million deal that he signed in 2018 while playing for the then-Arizona Coyotes, largely due to limited offensive production. During the 2022-23 season, Ekman-Larsson recorded two goals and 22 points in 54 games, the second-lowest total of his career. And the buyout worked out well for Ekman-Larsson, where he signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers, winning the Stanley Cup, before joining the Maple Leafs on a four-year, $14 million pact. Ekman-Larsson’s first season with the Maple Leafs was successful, registering four goals and 29 points with a +14 rating, while also chipping in four points in 13 playoff games. The follow-up act is off to an even better start.

With the Leafs finding themselves in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, negativity surrounding this team has captured the headlines and rightfully so, but Ekman-Larsson’s strong offensive production shouldn’t be lost in the chaos.