Adam Larsson Appreciation thread

[Bleedred]

A lot of the Oilers analytics community are not thrilled with Lars' play. I hope fans don't turn on him if they start losing

His Corsi was terrible here last year, absolutely abysmal. Same goes for Andy Greene too and almost everyone on the team not named Gelinas and Josefson.

But I think that had more to do with the fact that our team was horrendous at generating offense, so almost everyone was gonna be on for more shots against than they were for. And Greene and Larsson played the toughest of the competition.

I'm not sure if we really were that terrible or if we were just playing a conservative style.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Larsson's game might be better appreciated when watching him play than checking out his analytics. I haven't been able to watch Larsson too much (too big a time difference for someone who values her beauty sleep, ha ha) but hopefully he is playing well. I think Oilers fans as a whole should be very happy where their team is right now, and it's hard not to think (though from the outside looking in) that acquiring Larsson did round out their defense and make them a more competitive team. Just my perspective but I hope Oilers fans can appreciate Larsson. He's a good guy who deserves to be valued by the fan base he's playing for.

 

[goonybird]

if they blame the one new guy, who is without a doubt their best defender, for their (few) losses then they're poo

 

[KidLine93]

I came to the NJ Boards to see how Hall was doing but had to click on this thread first. Oilers are in a bit of a rut losing some 1 goal games very late in the 3rd (usually a bone head play which is frusterating) but as far as Larsson goes he is one of 2-3 guys I feel safe with out on the ice. I didn't realize he hit as hard as he does.

 

[goonybird]

Late 90s Scott Stevens

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I came to the NJ Boards to see how Hall was doing but had to click on this thread first. Oilers are in a bit of a rut losing some 1 goal games very late in the 3rd (usually a bone head play which is frusterating) but as far as Larsson goes he is one of 2-3 guys I feel safe with out on the ice. I didn't realize he hit as hard as he does.

Yeah, Larsson is more physical than he gets credit for, in my opinion.

 

[Tundra]

https://www.nhl.com/video/larsson-buries-a-one-timer/t-283193186/c-46742503

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

https://www.nhl.com/video/larsson-buries-a-one-timer/t-283193186/c-46742503

Nice.

2 goals, 3 assists all at even strength, leading NHL defensemen in hits, playing tough minutes with great D every night...He's on his way to becoming a tremendous player with a great contract. I miss this guy, our D is clearly worse without him. Still happy with the trade though, Hall is amazing.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Devils defense misses Larsson big time.

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

Oiler fan here.

This is a decent article with a couple good highlights of Larsson included that you may like:

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...on-now-playing-his-a-game-for-edmonton-oilers

Gotta say, Larsson may be my favorite Oiler to watch right now after McDavid. After so many years of just watching fire drill after fire drill in our zone, it is such a pleasure to finally have a big, physical, steady D out there who can stare down the best forwards in the league.

My favorite Larsson play so far may have been a week ago against Dallas: he made a questionable pinch and got beat by a Star out of the Dallas zone. It looked like a typical Oiler brain-dead move but Larsson just calmly cut the guy off, pokechecked the puck away, and then just crunched him into the boards. Just a small play but a great one.

The price was high but this guy is exactly what the Oilers needed. This will be fascinating trade to look back at for a number of years, IMO.

 

[Zippy316]

This absolutely warrants this thread getting bumped, so I'm not apologizing

 

[MadDevil]

I don't regret the trade one bit, but I do miss that kid.