The 27-year-old defenseman will succeed forward Shane Doan, who retired after the 2016-17 season and was Arizona captain from 2003-17.
"I'm extremely honored," said Ekman-Larsson, who was an alternate captain for the Coyotes the past four seasons. "I'm grateful for this opportunity and want to thank [general manager] John [Chayka] and [coach Rick Tocchet] for believing in me. It's an honor and a privilege to be a captain in the NHL and I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead. We have a lot of great leaders in our room, and together we will work hard to achieve our goal of becoming a perennial playoff team."
Selected by the Coyotes with the No. 6 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Ekman-Larsson has 290 points (102 goals, 188 assists) in 576 NHL games. He is the fourth captain since the franchise moved to Arizona from Winnipeg 22 years ago, following forward Keith Tkachuk (1996-2001), defenseman Teppo Numminen (2001-03) and Doan.
"Oliver really stepped up last season and proved to me that he's an excellent leader," Tocchet said. "He's an elite defenseman and I love the way that he battles and competes each game. He's got great character and his teammates respect him. He'll be a great captain for us and I'm very happy for him. He's earned this."
