Oliver Ekman-Larsson not willing to expand list of teams he'd be willing to be traded to?

The Arizona Coyotes need to figure out how to cut salary. One way they're thinking of doing so is by unloading Oliver Ekman-Larsson's hefty contract, but the defenseman is being stubborn about where he'd be willing to be traded to. 

According to TSN's Elliotte Friedman, Ekman-Larsson was unwilling to expand his list of just two teams to which he'd be willing to be dealt. The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks are the only teams on his list. 

Friedman added that he believes the Coyotes like the prospects better in Boston than they do in Vancouver. However, it appears that the Canucks are more eager to get a deal done.

Ekman-Larsson, the sixth overall pick in 2009, has blossomed into one of the NHL's best defenders. In 723 regular-season games, the left-shot defenseman has tallied 125 goals and 239 assists for 364 points.

There's no telling which team may be leading the race for Ekman-Larsson's services, but it's become quite clear that the Coyotes are willing to deal him in order to hold on to other players. Arizona is projected to have $1,116,098 in cap space this offseason, according to CapFriendly, and that's not enough to sign a number of its own free agents.

Taylor Hall, Brad Richardson and Carl Soderberg are among the club's unrestricted free agents while Christian Fischer, Vinnie Hinostroza and Ilya Lyubushkin are restricted.

The 2020-21 campaign isn't all that concerns Arizona, though. The Coyotes have eight players headed for unrestricted free agency after next season, including Derek Stepan, Michael Grabner, Alex Goligoski and Antti Raanta, among others.

If they don't unload some cap space now, they'll have to do so in the future.