Coyotes send Ekman-Larsson, Garland to Vancouver, draft Dylan Guenther in first round

The Coyotes made crystal clear on Friday that their eyes are on the future in building a winning team.

Just a few hours before the start of the NHL draft, the Coyotes traded team captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson and dynamic forward Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks for the ninth overall pick in the draft and three veterans heading into the final years of their contracts.

Arizona also received a second-round pick in 2022 and a seventh-round pick in 2023, while agreeing to take on 12 percent of Ekman-Larsson’s remaining salary, Canucks General Manager Jim Benning confirmed. 

That’s six years left on Ekman-Larsson’s contract, at an average annual value of $8.25 million. 

With their newly acquired first-round selection, the Coyotes went with forward Dylan Guenther, who most recently played for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound 18-year old averaged two points per game in 2020-21 with 12 goals and 12 assists in 12 games played.  

Guenther won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2021 Under-18 World Championship, scoring four goals with three assists in the tournament.  He was named WHL Rookie of the Year in 2019-20 after recording 59 points in 58 games.

Coyotes first round draft pick Dylan Guenther, on his game and play last season

The Arizona Coyotes selected Dylan Guenther, who is adept at many areas of the game, according to scouting reports.

Arizona Republic

The Coyotes have stocked up on draft assets with deals this week, and now have eight total picks in the 2021 draft. They have three second-round picks this year — the second round starts on Saturday morning — and five in 2022, a draft they consider to be more prospect-rich than this year’s. 

Arizona didn’t have a first-round pick last year or this year due to sanctions imposed by the NHL against the previous front office regime for violating the league’s Combine Testing Policy. Now they do, and in doing so stayed with the apparent course to take on bigger contracts and help teams clear salary cap space in exchange for draft assets.

The Canucks sent 36-year-old forward Loui Eriksson, 35-year-old center Jay Beagle and 31-year-old forward Antoine Roussel to the Coyotes in the deal. None put up more than five total points (Beagle) or played more than 35 games (Roussel) last season.

So ends the tenure and captaincy of Ekman-Larsson, who missed 10 games due to injury last season and produced 24 points, 21 on assists. A first-round draft pick in 2009, Ekman-Larsson, now 30, spent 11 seasons with the Coyotes and the past three as team captain. 

Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong thanked Ekman-Larsson and Garland for their time with the franchise and wished them well with the Canucks. 

“Behind the scenes for us it was a total team effort,” Armstrong said. “To walk out the backside with a top-10 pick was just huge for us.”

The Coyotes felt they had in-depth knowledge of Guenther, whom Armstrong labeled a “top-two line player” that has all of the physical and character attributes they sought. A current Coyotes scout, Randy Hansch, drafted Guenther to the Oil Kings several years ago. 

“We were fairly aggressive. I feel excited about that fact, I feel like we started to build a foundation with this draft,” Armstrong said.

Speculation flew of a possible trade involving Ekman-Larsson last offseason, as Armstrong had just started in his new position and was open to making a deal. But the Swedish defenseman’s camp allowed the Coyotes to only work out a deal with Boston and Vancouver, since he had a no-movement clause in his contract. 

Nothing materialized because Armstrong and the other teams couldn’t agree to a deal, and Ekman-Larsson remained in Arizona where he said he wanted to be all along. But this offseason, Vancouver and Arizona worked it out. 

Former Coyotes forward Conor Garland, on what Coyotes organization meant to him

Former Coyotes forward Conor Garland told the Republic that he grew up in the Arizona organization. He was traded to Vancouver on Friday.

Arizona Republic

Garland, 25, led the Coyotes with 27 assists this past season and scored 12 goals. He was constantly the target of other team’s physical play, but rolled with the punches and became a fan favorite for his hard-nosed style of play and willingness to trade verbal jabs with opposing players.

He overcame a late-season injury and finished it on a four-game point streak. 

Garland earned a spot on Team USA in the hockey world championships in May and June in Latvia, and helped lead the national team to a bronze medal. 

Both Arizona and Vancouver missed the playoffs last season, with the Canucks finishing last in the North Division.

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.