Oliver Ekman-Larsson gushes when he’s asked about the Arizona Coyotes’ offseason and some of the moves the team has made with new general manager John Chayka.

Defenseman Alex Goligsoki, “is going to help our team to get better to take a couple of steps closer to the playoffs.”

Defenseman Luke Schenn, “plays strong and physical.”

Chayka himself is, “obviously he’s a smart guy and still a pretty young guy. He’s super smart and he knows what he’s doing.”

When asked about Pavel Datsyuk, the former Detroit Red Wings forward who left that team for the KHL, Ekman-Larsson laughs.

The Coyotes acquired Datsyuk’s salary cap hit during the offseason in order to help them get past the salary cap floor and increase their level of young assets.

“It would be fun to have him on the roster, but obviously he’s going to play in the KHL,” the 25-year-old Swedish defenseman said.

For the first time in a while there’s a legit sense of optimism around the team. Last summer the Coyotes handed the keys to the organization to Ekman-Larsson along with forwards Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. The team knew what it had in Ekman-Larsson, but Domi and Duclair were wild cards. After strong rookie years by both forwards there’s a much more positive vibe around the franchise.

When he signed his six-year contract extension with the team in 2013 they were coming off a run to the Western Conference Final. Since then the Coyotes had fallen on hard, the most difficult year coming in 2014-15 when they held the second-worst record in the NHL. Ekman-Larsson admitted he wondered about the team’s direction after that season, and worried about being locked into a long-term deal with a rebuilding group.

Last season they made the dramatic improvement from 56 points the year before to 78 points. This upcoming year, making the playoffs will again be tough but they’re certainly a greater possibility than last season. Ekman-Larsson, who is widely regarded as one of the top young defensemen in the NHL, set career-highs with 55 points and 34 assists.

We talked to Ekman-Larsson about the Coyotes’ future, his future with the team, the World Cup of Hockey and of course, his clothing line.

Q: Is there a move John Chayka made that you liked the most?

Ekman-Larsson: I think the trade and the signing of Alex Goligoski is going to help our team to get better to take a couple of steps closer to the playoffs. You see last year he was around good players and he’s a really good player – good puck mover and good skater too. I think he’s going to help us a lot this upcoming season here. Luke Schenn is a good player. He plays strong and physical, so I’m super excited about the back end.

Not Pavel Datsyuk?

It would be fun to have him on the roster, but obviously he’s going to play in the KHL, which is — yeah, he’s a world-class player. That would have been fun to play with him, but that’s not going to happen.

Did you ever think about reaching out to him that maybe he would change his mind?

No, I didn’t think about that. He made up his mind before but obviously it’s too bad for the league and too bad for Detroit too. He had been a good player for them and a tough, hard player in this league for a long time.

What was your reaction when the team decided Chayka would be the general manager? You two are around the same age. Did you ask him if he wanted to hang out or something?

Yeah, obviously he’s a smart guy and still a pretty young guy. He’s super smart and he knows what he’s doing. If you look at what he has done so far with the team, he looks super interested, but I haven’t talked much with him. He was around the last season but it’s going to be fun to catch up with him and see what he wants me to do and what he wants the team to do moving forward here.

What was your relationship with him when he was with the team as assistant general manager last season?

I saw him a couple of times. I talked to him when I saw him. We didn’t talk much hockey or anything like that, but I’m super excited he got the GM job and I think he’s going to be really good for us.

Has he reached out to you to discuss the team’s plans this offseason or his vision for the Coyotes?

No, I haven’t talked much with him. I’ve been trying to focus on the offseason here, but I think it’s interesting to see that he wants to improve this team and he really wants us to move along here and take a couple of steps in the right direction. With that said I thought Don did a real good job with this organization and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.

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