Shane Doan Reportedly Interested in Acquiring Big-Name Former Teammate

Speculation is already abound about what kind of role Doan will have in hockey operations. Doan was a player under Treliving when Doan played for the Coyotes and Treliving was an assistant GM in the early 2010's.

Now that they are both together, rumors are flying about another Coyotes connection.

On Friday the Vancouver Canucks bought out veteran D-Man Oliver Ekman-Larsson from his long and expensive contract.

'OEL' and Doan played together for years in Arizona and Doan was an advisor to ex-Coyotes GM John Chayka when OEL signed that deal.

Now that OEL is a free agent, maybe Doan can help him resurrect his career. OEL is nowhere close to the player that he was in his prime in Arizona playing alongside Doan, but he can still be an effective player in the right situation.

The Leafs are a much much better defensive team than Vancouver, and OEL could play in a sheltered third pairing role with some power player time on the side.

With Justin Holl departing and Mark Giordano aging, the Leafs could really use cheap depth at the defense position. OEL should not command anything above $2 million, which was exactly what Holl earned last year.

First seen in: LeafsNation