Talk about salt in the wound.

The Vancouver Canucks have struggled in almost every aspect of the game this season, ranking bottom-three in goals allowed and bottom-10 in goals scored.

That’s reflected in the fact that their leading point producer, Elias Pettersson, has the lowest point total among any player who leads his team in scoring.

In fact, there’s one player on the Canucks payroll who has outscored everyone on Vancouver’s actual roster this season.

This is now the third season since the Canucks bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s albatross of a contract back in the summer of 2023. The move seemed smart at the time, allowing the Canucks to add depth to their team, which in part helped them have one of the best seasons in franchise history back in 2023-24.

That move worked out pretty well for Ekman-Larsson, too.

The 34-year-old went on to win a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in ’23-24 before signing a four-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2024.

And this season, Ekman-Larsson has seven goals and 25 points in 40 games. That total would rank first overall on the Canucks, one point ahead of Pettersson, who has nine goals and 24 points in 32 games.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson finds the back of the net 🥅 pic.twitter.com/kJG4vAv5pU

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 2, 2026

The Canucks are in the midst of the heftiest portion of the Ekman-Larsson buyout. They are paying him $4,766,667 not to be with the team.

That cap hit makes him the 10th-highest paid player on the Canucks roster this season. The Canucks are actually paying Ekman-Larsson more than the Leafs are, as his cap hit in Toronto is $3.5 million.

Vancouver will pay Ekman-Larsson $4,766,667 next season, before the buyout penalty reduces to $2,126,667 for the following four campaigns.

Ekman-Larsson has been one of the most productive defenders in 2025-26. His 20 points at five-on-five are tied for fifth among all NHL defencemen, trailing only Lane Hutson, Zach Werenski, Cale Makar, and Jacob Chychrun.

By comparison, the Canucks leader at even-strength this season is Linus Karlsson, who has 14 points at five-on-five.

Ekman-Larsson was rewarded for his strong season by recently being named to Sweden’s Olympic team.