Declaring your team's most important player is not a simple thing. It's not always the most valuable guy or the highest points producer. It is the player who makes your team go; the one you can't afford to lose, even if all he contributes can't be measured by fancy stats.
Most Important Player: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Defenseman
Sure, some folks would argue that captain Shane Doan deserves this honor, and certainly that case can be made. But for our intents and purposes, Ekman-Larsson is indeed the most important player for the Arizona Coyotes franchise.
Let’s first take a look at the organization itself, which has undergone a summer of tumult with the headline-grabbing battle between the Coyotes and the City of Glendale over their lease agreement. The dispute turned nasty at times and, though the two parties announced a détente of sorts last week, there remains plenty of speculation about the viability of a team remaining in the desert.
What the Yotes need now, both on and off the ice, is stability. And while Doan has provided that since the club moved from Winnipeg, he is in the last year of his contract and the twilight of his career at age 38. Doan has committed to returning to Arizona, though few people would blame him if, at some point this season, he were to request a trade to try and chase down a Stanley Cup.
Should that happen, or even if Doan plays out the final year of his contract in Arizona, Ekman-Larsson figures to be the front-runner to succeed him as captain.
The skilled Swede just turned 24 years old, but he heads into his sixth NHL season with ample experience. Last season, he led the Yotes with 23 goals and 43 points, playing in all 82 games. He led the team with an average of 25:12 in ice time per game and, according to WaronIce.com, was the top defenseman in Fenwick rating (50.6 percent). Ekman-Larsson was consistently drawing the toughest matchups as well; he led the Coyotes in Quality of Competition (0.05), according to BehindtheNet.ca.
Ekman-Larsson also served as a key component on the team’s first power-play unit, where he finished with a team-leading 10 goals and finished second with 22 points. His contributions on the man-advantage will become even more crucial now that the leading points producer last season -- fellow blueliner Keith Yandle -- was shipped to the New York Rangers at the trade deadline back in March.
Ekman-Larsson will be vital as he continues to anchor the Yotes' back end and, more importantly, guides a group that could be replete with young talent such as burgeoning prospects like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Dylan Strome .
