Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka shut down any trade rumours revolving around Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Wednesday, adding the 26-year-old defenceman has never asked to be moved.

The Coyotes opened their season with a modern-day record of 11 straight losses and the team owns just two wins since, sitting last in the NHL through 17 games.

Chayka, however, pointed the blame to the team's poor goaltending with Antti Raanta injured as the factor for the Coyotes' woes.

"He's never once complained to me or talked about greener pastures. I think he's dug in" Chayka told Arizona Sports 98.7 of Ekman-Larsson. "He'll be the first one to tell you, he didn't think he had a great start to the year. I think it's difficult - it's tough to defend when you're not getting goaltending. We had historically bad goaltending, that's just a fact.

"Oliver continues to be a part of what we're doing here moving forward. (I'm) a big fan of his as a person and a player."

Ekman-Larsson owns two goals and 10 points this season while averaging 24:54 of ice time per game. He sits last on the Coyotes in plus/minus at minus-12. Chayka said injuries to Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jakob Chychrun have forced the team to lean heavily on Ekman-Larsson, adding he hasn't not been able to put the Swedish defenceman in a position for success.

Chayka told Arizona Sports earlier this week he has not held any extensive trade talks involving Ekman-Larsson.

"I've been on the record numerous times about the subject and have been very clear," Chayka said. "I haven't had a single conversation about Oliver that has lasted more than five seconds."

Ekman-Larsson carries a $5.5 million cap hit on his current contract, which runs through next season, according to CapFriendly.