Sempiternal
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Player Discussion Adam Larsson (Hall talk will result in a thread ban)
- Thread starter backhandsauce
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FlameChampion
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I would say hes struggled if we are being honest. You have to also remember this team hasnt had all of their defense somewhat healthy until now. The last 5 games is the first time they have all been together (and they still arent healthy) and have looked better. Sekera, Klefbom have missed significant time along with Russell a bit. Hes probably spent too much of the year trying to prop up a damaged back end.
I think hes dealing with a back injury and the loss of his father may still be impacting him (which you cant blame him for).
I still really like the player but it hasnt been his best year.
Holy hyperbole.
I don't think he's cut out for the modern game. Too slow, not super mobile (the back thing is probably a factor here), not great at moving the puck. Still a useful player but would probably benefit a lot from a lighter workload/fewer minutes.
Sempiternal
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He's been on the wrong end and cause of many goals against this season. Poor defensive play to go with the almost zero offense he provides. He's been brutal!
He hasn't been great, but "brutal" and "one of the worst players on the team" is pure hyperbole.
And I say this as someone who has never been a fan of the player.
Fourier
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He has 17 points with essentially no pp time. And all of 6 of those points also involved McDavid. If you look at non-pp points he is ahead of or very close to Doughty, Parayko, Ghostisbehere, Lindholm, OEL, Krug, Morrissey, Faulk,...I think hyperbole is a very good choice of words.
PatrikBerglund
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Thank you for that well-written info.
About his father.
My father passed away in cancer 2.5 years ago. I'm 42 years old and I'm still devastated. Had a good cry today.
People react differently to losing family members, some have very strong connections, others more distant.
If Adam is like me, it would without a doubt affect his everyday-life AND his hockey career.
bobbythebrain
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Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
I mean if you guys are done with this year, that's fine, go be done with it.
I’m not sure about Karl alzner 2.0. But this is a player the oilers are going to need to be careful with on his next contract. A player with already somewhat limited mobility with some documented back issues in the past. Scares me a bit.
His contract runs another 2 seasons after this one. Ends at the same time as both Russell and Sekera. It’s possible we end up in a situation where we don’t want to bring back any of them at that point.
His contract runs another 2 seasons after this one. Ends at the same time as both Russell and Sekera. It’s possible we end up in a situation where we don’t want to bring back any of them at that point.
PatrikBerglund
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justafan22
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I think inconsistent is a better word, which is odd in of itself seeing as consistency used to be a strenght of his. It is still the same player though but Larsson, imo, plays at his very best when playing with a good partner. This is true for many D men of course but in my eyes even moreso with Larsson. Put him with OEL and he looked like an all-star, his two best regular seasons were with A. Green, his best as an Oilers was second half 16/17 and playoffs when Klefbom was rolling.
That said I don't think he has been as bad as portrayed, but that is my view. He got a lot of flak after we lost Klefbom/Russell and that was a bad time for him, at the same time when you're playing a such a depleted D core it's also a really bad time to place judgement on a player.
PatrikBerglund
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You are probably right.
I would love to get him to Buffalo to be Dahlin's partner. Wonder what Edmonton wants in return.
Bryanbryoil
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On the trade board awhile ago I was taking to a Leafs fan and IIRC he said that he'd do Kapanen and a 1st for Larsson. If we could find a RHD that's a little more fleet of foot and more skilled offensively for a reasonable cost I'd make that trade.
Bryanbryoil
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I think Larssons inconsistency this season is an outlier.
The guy is having issues with things he's never struggled with before. Making the easy defensive plays look hard, and it's only compounded by everyone else on the roster also looking lost defensively this year.
Larsson spoke earlier in the year about how worried he was about his game, and It sounds like this is the first time he's ever really struggled with his confidence to this extreme.
Klefbom being injured and him being expected to anchor the entire dcore, when nobody is playing particularly well this year has cause his confidence issues to just keep snowballing imo.
Larsson is a great second pairing Dman, or a good complimentary Dman on a top pair, but when klefbom goes down, he's responsible for doing way more than he is capable of, just like the rest of our D core.
I have tons of time for guys like Larsson and Nurse, but not as a top pair, which they have both been asked to play at points this year. Klefbom being our number 1 dman is a blessing when he's on, but when he's injured, it throws everyone and everything in shambles. The best thing that could happen to this club is to bring in a top pairing Dman to stabilize the back end. Unfortunately we don't have the assets, and just have to hope klef stays healthy from here on out.
I hate making excuses for players, but this Dcore has been set up to fail. When everyones around, it's passable, as we have 5/6 dmen capable of top 4 dmen, but only 1 dman who can at times look like a number 1. We are a D by committee team because we lack a consistent top pairing, and when the top Dman of your committee spends half his time on the IR, the rest of the committee is going to suffer.
All that said, next season I think he rebounds. Klef Larsson Sekera Nurse Russell Benning is an above average D group by committee imo. The issue will be staying healthy.
The guy is having issues with things he's never struggled with before. Making the easy defensive plays look hard, and it's only compounded by everyone else on the roster also looking lost defensively this year.
Larsson spoke earlier in the year about how worried he was about his game, and It sounds like this is the first time he's ever really struggled with his confidence to this extreme.
Klefbom being injured and him being expected to anchor the entire dcore, when nobody is playing particularly well this year has cause his confidence issues to just keep snowballing imo.
Larsson is a great second pairing Dman, or a good complimentary Dman on a top pair, but when klefbom goes down, he's responsible for doing way more than he is capable of, just like the rest of our D core.
I have tons of time for guys like Larsson and Nurse, but not as a top pair, which they have both been asked to play at points this year. Klefbom being our number 1 dman is a blessing when he's on, but when he's injured, it throws everyone and everything in shambles. The best thing that could happen to this club is to bring in a top pairing Dman to stabilize the back end. Unfortunately we don't have the assets, and just have to hope klef stays healthy from here on out.
I hate making excuses for players, but this Dcore has been set up to fail. When everyones around, it's passable, as we have 5/6 dmen capable of top 4 dmen, but only 1 dman who can at times look like a number 1. We are a D by committee team because we lack a consistent top pairing, and when the top Dman of your committee spends half his time on the IR, the rest of the committee is going to suffer.
All that said, next season I think he rebounds. Klef Larsson Sekera Nurse Russell Benning is an above average D group by committee imo. The issue will be staying healthy.
Bryanbryoil
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DerpMorg
10 Year Tire Fire
When his contract is up, he’s a prime candidate to just walk away from. At 29, with his back issues, yea, let someone else overpay him on a five year deal.
I think russell anchoring the bottom pair with a rookie as the number 6, and benning rotating in as the number 7 would be okay.
Ideally we'd bring in a better dman, but I think the org is more worried about forward help right now.
Bryanbryoil
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