Ekman-Larsson celebrated after reaching 1,000 NHL games

Oliver Ekman-Larsson was honored Saturday in Toronto for playing in his 1,000th NHL game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman reached the milestone on Wednesday at Capital One Arena in Washington and was given the full celebration before his first game back in Toronto.

In that game on Wednesday, Ekman-Larsson became the 398th player in NHL history to reach the impressive milestone.

During the pregame ceremony on Saturday, Ekman-Larsson was joined on the ice by his dad Patric, brother Kevin, and his wife and toddler son Leo for the celebration.

Teammate Morgan Rielly brought the Ekman-Larsson family flowers before the team showed a video honoring Ekman-Larsson’s achievements throughout his career.

The video included messages from current and former teammates congratulating Ekman-Larsson on the milestone.

After the video, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving gave Ekman-Larsson a crystal and a silver stick to commemorate the achievement.

Ekman-Larsson started his career as a first-round draft pick with the Phoenix Coyotes. He played for the franchise for the first 11 years of his career before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, where he spent the next two seasons.

He signed with the Florida Panthers as a free agent in 2023, where his career reached a high with a Stanley Cup championship last season.

This summer, he signed a four-year deal with the Maple Leafs.