Dreger: Bruins "don't like the asking price" for Ekman-Larsson

Fear not, folks. We should only be a day or so away from the conclusion of the Oliver Ekman-Larsson Saga.

If you remember, earlier this week, Ekman-Larsson's agent stated that his player wanted to be dealt to either the Vancouver Canucks or Boston Bruins by tomorrow.

If a deal wasn't done by then, he was simply going to stay in Arizona.

Well, it's Thursday afternoon, and it appears that his options are dwindling.

Per TSN's Darren Dreger:

The price is wrong, apparently, and Bob Barker is undoubtedly upset.

What happens from here remains to be seen. It's also possible that this is just a negotiating ploy by the Coyotes, or by one of the other teams involved.

The Coyotes are in a weird spot: Ekman-Larsson will only go to two teams.

Those two teams are in an equally weird spot: not only are they competing with each other's best offer, but they also have to ensure that offer is good enough to entice Arizona to make a deal.

After all, this isn't like dealing with a UFA who's going to walk for nothing in a few months.

If Arizona doesn't like what it sees, it can simply tell Ekman-Larsson he isn't being traded and leave it at that.

Of course, the risk for the team is that Ekman-Larsson then dings his future trade value by mailing it in or simply refusing to play, but that might be better than being pressured into a "get it done by Friday" deal.

There's no concrete news on what Arizona is asking for, nor on how much money they're willing to retain.

However, some rumors floating about indicated a first-round pick and a prospect were the starting point.

Should be an interesting end to the week!