After playing his 1000th game Wednesday, Oliver Ekman-Larsson revealed a certain part of the team's history played a role in him signing with the Leafs.
Ekman-Larsson made the decision to sign with the Leafs just days after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers.
While he admitted that the opportunity to win was a key factor in signing in Toronto, during an appearance on TSN's 'OverDrive' Thursday, the former first-round pick revealed that the history of Swedish players and the current group of Swedes here was also an important part of his decision to join the Leafs.
'I think you try to factor in a lot of things and obviously, having a lot of history with Swedish players, it's hard to do better than those guys (Sundin, Salming) with what they did here.It's cool for a guy like me to come here and play for the same organization and live up to their standards that they built here. You think about that. They did an unbelievable job creating a culture here and you can still feel like it's here. You think about that and obviously, Willy and Holmberg and Jarnkrok. I think it's easier to come into a team with a lot of Swedes that you know and that helps, but bottom line is that you want to win again and I think it would be a very special play to do it in Toronto and I think we have the team to do that and I'm excited to be here.
It came down to doing something special and have that challenge for myself and the organization. I think it's a great thing.»
While there were many detractors who became very vocal about the signing when OEL signed his four-year deal, he has performed well so far and has quieted many of them.
Ekman-Larsson may not be the point-producing player he was when he was with the Arizona Coyotes, but he has certainly brought size, physicality and bite to the Leafs' blueline.
As his 1000th game was a road game, the Leafs intend to honour his accomplishment on Saturday with a pre-game ceremony before taking on the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid.
