There aren’t many bright spots on the Maple Leafs this year and perhaps getting rid of a bright spot lands on the controversial side of things, but that’s exactly what is being suggested here. The Maple Leafs would be wise to cash out on Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

I’ll start off by eating some crow here. I didn’t like the Ekman-Larsson signing and after last season I had all but written off that Ekman-Larsson would even be able to cut on the third pairing with Simon Benoit. I was wrong. Ekman-Larsson has rediscovered his offensive abilities and been effective in generating offense from the back end. At a time when the Maple Leafs need non-Marner ways of moving the puck to their most capable goal scorers, Ekman-Larsson has filled that void and on a team that has struggled to come close to having a healthy blueline, Oliver has easily transitioned back into the top four and looks like a bargain for the Leafs at $3.5M. Additionally, the Maple Leafs taking another hit on the blueline by voluntarily parting ways with OEL would make their team significantly worse.

All that said, cashing out and selling high on Ekman-Larsson is the right move. At 34-years-old, Ekman-Larsson is on the older side of a Leafs blueline that needs to find ways to get younger. Performing or not, he’s not a long term option for this team and the Leafs should now be in a situation where they are thinking less about their team today and instead where there team will be in a few years.

There is also the impact of a coaching change on Ekman-Larsson. He’s excelled under certain coaches in his career and struggled under others, and it often comes down to who knows where to put him in the lineup and who to partner him with. The Ekman-Larsson the Leafs are enjoying today might not be as good under whomever comes after Craig Berube.

The Maple Leafs also need to recoup assets this year and Ekman-Larsson looks like one of the best ways to do that. The Leafs are a team that can afford to take back salary and Ekman-Larsson fits comfortably into a lot of teams’ cap situations.

Moving on from OEL will certainly hurt the Leafs in the short term, but also potentially moves them into a lottery pick situation where Toronto could land in the top five of the draft, enabling the Leafs to use their pick rather than see it transfer to the Bruins. Ekman-Larsson is playing like a defenceman that would land a first round pick at the trade deadline, at least from team’s that don’t know any better. That isn’t something the Leafs can ignore.

And while the blue line shouldn’t have to take another hit, the Leafs should at least be curious about taking a look at William Villeneuve on their NHL roster at some point this season and have other options like Marshall Rifai and Matt Benning they can go to as well.

Appreciation for Oliver Ekman-Larsson aside, this is his P.A. Parenteau moment and the team needs to think about the future.

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