Player Discussion Adam Larsson: Part III

[LaGu]

He's second in ES TOI/G to Russell.

... but Larsson has played more EV mins.

Look, my post was not really intended to be an argument on why Larsson is/has been better than Russel. It was just a reply to another post, yours, which listed a bit of stats without context to say that one is better than the other...

I really don't want to put down Russel in any way, he has been great and a big part of the turn around of this team. Larsson has had some downs, end Nov/early Dec he didn't look great but before, but now after starting to find his place he has been great and honestly it is fairly evident to me that he is in a different league than Russel when it comes to defense.

 

[Tyrolean]

delete

 

[Tyrolean]

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[oobga]

... but Larsson has played more EV mins.

Look, my post was not really intended to be an argument on why Larsson is/has been better than Russel. It was just a reply to another post, yours, which listed a bit of stats without context to say that one is better than the other...

I really don't want to put down Russel in any way, he has been great and a big part of the turn around of this team. Larsson has had some downs, end Nov/early Dec he didn't look great but before, but now after starting to find his place he has been great and honestly it is fairly evident to me that he is in a different league than Russel when it comes to defense.

I think Larsson has missed a lot of ice time this year due to his pairing having off nights. Not to be too hard on Klef, he's essentially only a 2nd year NHLer, but when Klef is off his game, it can get pretty bad out there. Whenever that happens, McLellan starts to rely heavily on Sek/Russell. Sek has been extremely consistent, so you almost never have to worry about him, and Russell has been for the most part consistent as well. If Larsson was paired with Sek, I'm sure we would see even more of Larsson out there, but I think McLellan likes Larsson out there as a stabilizing force with our highest potential D that is having some ups and downs this year.

One other good thing I would say about Russell is that he also seems to be one of the best athletes on the team, the guy never looks like he's tired even with all the distance he has to cover with his active style of defending. That's valuable, especially in tough games and will get him some extra shifts from McLellan while other guys are trying to recover.

 

[TaroTsujimoto]

... but Larsson has played more EV mins.

Look, my post was not really intended to be an argument on why Larsson is/has been better than Russel. It was just a reply to another post, yours, which listed a bit of stats without context to say that one is better than the other...

I really don't want to put down Russel in any way, he has been great and a big part of the turn around of this team. Larsson has had some downs, end Nov/early Dec he didn't look great but before, but now after starting to find his place he has been great and honestly it is fairly evident to me that he is in a different league than Russel when it comes to defense.

Larsson's played well, no argument there. But I think some posters exaggerate how good he's been because of the sexy hits. Against Nashville for example he had a poor game which included a bad turnover leading to a goal, yet I don't think anyone pointed that out. Sekera is by far the most mistake free and best defenceman on the Oilers.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Maybe our GM knew what he was doing when he traded for him?

 

[oobga]

Maybe our GM knew what he was doing when he traded for him?

Think this is what we always hoped for from Chia after years of trash D. The guy might have inherited some good forward pieces, but he built that Boston D group that took them to the cup, and they still live and die by today, basically from scratch. Of course Boston ran out of town one of the key pieces they could still have today, Hamilton, after Chia left.

 

[Zaddy]

Larsson's played well, no argument there. But I think some posters exaggerate how good he's been because of the sexy hits. Against Nashville for example he had a poor game which included a bad turnover leading to a goal, yet I don't think anyone pointed that out. Sekera is by far the most mistake free and best defenceman on the Oilers.

IMO he has looked worse these last couple of games, maybe excluding last night. Had a number of bad giveaways and overall hasn't been as solid as he has been for most of the season. Still a great D though that has been a big stabilizer on the backend.

 

[MessierII]

Larsson's played well, no argument there. But I think some posters exaggerate how good he's been because of the sexy hits. Against Nashville for example he had a poor game which included a bad turnover leading to a goal, yet I don't think anyone pointed that out. Sekera is by far the most mistake free and best defenceman on the Oilers.

I don't agree at all. Sekeras had more bad games than Larsson. Larsson has been great since day 1. That one stretch of maybe 4-5 games late November early December was the only time he's struggled and it was mostly being hung out to dry by klefbom. Sekera took a while to find his groove this season. He's been great too don't get me wrong but he took probably 10-15 games before he found consistency and even Sekera playing consistent still has more bad games than Larsson.

 

[LaGu]

Larsson's played well, no argument there. But I think some posters exaggerate how good he's been because of the sexy hits. Against Nashville for example he had a poor game which included a bad turnover leading to a goal, yet I don't think anyone pointed that out. Sekera is by far the most mistake free and best defenceman on the Oilers.

I agree that Larsson's last couple/three games haven't been excellent. Hard to call a 3+ 3 A night bad though.

The point is not that though, it was about who has had the best season between him and Russel. Russel has been great, but not really close to Lars. Sekera has been the best D so far, there is little doubt on that.

Also, I actually think it is the other way around. I think he has been under more scrutiny than others, for obvious reasons (the trade).

 

[LaGu]

I think Larsson has missed a lot of ice time this year due to his pairing having off nights. Not to be too hard on Klef, he's essentially only a 2nd year NHLer, but when Klef is off his game, it can get pretty bad out there. Whenever that happens, McLellan starts to rely heavily on Sek/Russell. Sek has been extremely consistent, so you almost never have to worry about him, and Russell has been for the most part consistent as well. If Larsson was paired with Sek, I'm sure we would see even more of Larsson out there, but I think McLellan likes Larsson out there as a stabilizing force with our highest potential D that is having some ups and downs this year.

One other good thing I would say about Russell is that he also seems to be one of the best athletes on the team, the guy never looks like he's tired even with all the distance he has to cover with his active style of defending. That's valuable, especially in tough games and will get him some extra shifts from McLellan while other guys are trying to recover.

Klefbom has definitely struggled, but I think he just needs time, and in some games he looks great.

I also wanted to see Sekera Larsson for a while but I think, as you alude to, that they want to keep them separated since both can handle the heavy lifting on their respective pairing.

Edit: also, Russel has been great. A calming presence with good puck movement. One of those veterans we so desperately needed the last years.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The key is having depth. That's what wins you games. Having depth of Dmen who can play top-4 minutes, and we arguably have SIX of them: Sekera, Klefbom, Larsson, Russell, Davidson and arguably even Nurse. That's a HUGE difference from the past, when we maybe had 2 or 3 guys AT MOST who could really play top-4 minutes, and even then we never had a top pairing that we could put out there against other top lines and do a good job. We now have two pairings that can do that, and even our 3rd pairing is very good most nights -- as long as Gryba isn't on it, and it's Davidson and Benning -- that's a very strong 3rd pair, and shows our depth. That's a big reason why we're having success. It's not one guy in particular, it's many guys doing their part, and having the ABILITY to do their part, which is key, and now we have those guys. Larsson is one of those key cogs, no doubt about it.

And yeah, some guys have been up and down, like Klefbom. But guess what: that goes for EVERY Dman in the league. It's easy to get in that "the grass is greener on the otherside" mentality of thinking, but it's not always true, and this season is most definitely is NOT true. Sure, our guys make the odd mistake, but if you watch other high-end Dmen around the league, the're making mistakes, too. Don't kid yourselves. Gio and Brodie made plenty of mistakes last night against us. Every game I watch of the Flames, they make mistakes every night. So you're not going to get mistake free guys very often. There's really only a handful of Dmen in the league that pretty much NEVER make any mistakes. Many are over-rated, such as Gio of the Flames, off the top of my head, or Brodie even more so; his +/- relative to the rest of his team is downright UGLY, and the eye test backs it up. Give me Klefbom over Brodie, and Klefbom hasn't even played the equivalent of 2 full seasons yet; he's going to get better still.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

Bringing them both in has made them both better than they would have been by themselves, because of the depth (Russell/Larsson).

I like Russell, I just wrote a post pumping him up, but Larsson is the better defender and more talented player. There is hardly a forward in the league that you have to worry about Larsson being able to handle. He can keep up with the faster players with his excellent positioning and stick, and he can handle any of the huge physical forwards with ease. The guy is a monster at puck battles in our zone, he gets the puck back, and he does it with his stick, brain, and body. Would rather watch this guy do his work in the d zone than watch the Taylor toe drag 10/10.

I doubt anyone will argue that we could still use an offensive right handed defenceman, but PC knew exactly what he was doing acquiring this guy. We need that shutdown/matchup defenceman to play the style we are employing, moreso than offence from the back-end. Also, Lars' transition/offensive game is showing room for growth.

 

[UnicornONtheCOBB]

Maybe our GM knew what he was doing when he traded for him?

it was a trade that needed to happen, simple as that. There are far more forwards and wingers in the league than RHD, especially ones that can play top pairing minutes, like Larsson. Hall's great, but there are more than 30 or 40 forwards I would take over him, including McDavid and Draisatl. I still think we gave up more value than we acquired, but it came down to 2 major factors IMO...

1) Supply and Demand - not many top pairing RHD, with solid contracts, between the ages of 23 and 28 available.

2) Need. - the Oilers needed a RHD much more than they needed a first line LW.


You can't give all the credit to Larsson for the Oiler's success this year, it's obviously a result of a number of factors...

-Talbot's stellar play.
-health and depth on D - Larsson, Russel, Klef, Sekera, Benning, etc.
-healthy 2nd year McDavid
-health and depth up front.
-A true number 1 line.


the combination of that list of factors has yielded some very positive results. I also believe this team hasn't even came close to hitting it's full potential.

 

[Nordic*]

Larsson's played well, no argument there. But I think some posters exaggerate how good he's been because of the sexy hits. Against Nashville for example he had a poor game which included a bad turnover leading to a goal, yet I don't think anyone pointed that out. Sekera is by far the most mistake free and best defenceman on the Oilers.

Always look at the quality of competition and def/off zone starts when comparing defencemen.

A lot of players can look like world-beaters on the second and third pairing, but if you move them up to go up against the likes of Crosby, Benn, Kane and Ovechkin - they instantly look overwhelmed.

 

[Musashi]

Nice to hear an extended interview with Lars

 

[Jet Walters]

Top 50 amongst defensemen in even strength points. That's not bad for a defense first nasty piece of business.

 

[FlameChampion]

Nice to hear an extended interview with Lars

Which interview?

 

[shoop]

Maybe our GM knew what he was doing when he traded for him?

Bingo.

Does anyone think this team would be better right now if this trade had not been made?

 

[Musashi]

Which interview?

On Oilers now with Bob. The segment should be available to hear again soon.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Bingo.

Does anyone think this team would be better right now if this trade had not been made?

Nope, because we'd still be slotting players higher than they're capable of on the back end.

It's not an ideal trade and it never was, but Chia had the brass to clean up the back end with what he probably knew was going to be a very unpopular trade. And sure, Larsson isn't the sole reason we're playing better but I think he's a bigger part of it than people give him credit for. Having that rock back there pushes players like Davidson and Nurse further down the lineup where they belong and allows them to take easier assignments and develop confidence.

Chia paid a very high price for a player that wasn't easy to find, and so far it's paying off brilliantly.

Even the trade's biggest critics have to admit it's immensely satisfying watching Larsson put Johnny on his overpaid ass whenever we play the Flames.

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

Nope, because we'd still be slotting players higher than they're capable of on the back end.

It's not an ideal trade and it never was, but Chia had the brass to clean up the back end with what he probably knew was going to be a very unpopular trade. And sure, Larsson isn't the sole reason we're playing better but I think he's a bigger part of it than people give him credit for. Having that rock back there pushes players like Davidson and Nurse further down the lineup where they belong and allows them to take easier assignments and develop confidence.

Chia paid a very high price for a player that wasn't easy to find, and so far it's paying off brilliantly.

Even the trade's biggest critics have to admit it's immensely satisfying watching Larsson put Johnny on his overpaid ass whenever we play the Flames.

PS: and all this at a reasonable cap hit for the next four years.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Agree %100.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Hey Oilers, just came here to say congrats on having the guts to pull the trigger on the Hall-Larsson trade. That is going to keep paying dividends for the next decade.

 

[Jet Walters]

Hey Oilers, just came here to say congrats on having the guts to pull the trigger on the Hall-Larsson trade. That is going to keep paying dividends for the next decade.

Thanks. Wish things could have worked out better for Nick Schultz here. He seemed like a real stand up guy who the organization brought in during our most chaotic days. He had to babysit a lot of guys who had no business being in the league.

 

[Bangers]

Nope, because we'd still be slotting players higher than they're capable of on the back end.

It's not an ideal trade and it never was, but Chia had the brass to clean up the back end with what he probably knew was going to be a very unpopular trade. And sure, Larsson isn't the sole reason we're playing better but I think he's a bigger part of it than people give him credit for. Having that rock back there pushes players like Davidson and Nurse further down the lineup where they belong and allows them to take easier assignments and develop confidence.

Chia paid a very high price for a player that wasn't easy to find, and so far it's paying off brilliantly.

Even the trade's biggest critics have to admit it's immensely satisfying watching Larsson put Johnny on his overpaid ass whenever we play the Flames.

As someone who absolutely hated the trade and was calling for Chia's head for the entire offseason, even I'll admit that it is working out so far (now that Nuge and Eberle are finally producing even a little bit in the offensive zone).

Gus though? Inexcusable.