Player Discussion Adam Larsson

[sandhu111]

We're entering year two of having Larsson on the oilers.
I thought it would be nice to having a thread to discuss thoughts on his play good or bad.

For me I've really grown to appreciate the consistency of play. He reminds me of a little less nastier but more mobile Jason Smith. He is a top pairing even strength and penalty killing defensemen in my eyes.

I don't see a whole lot more offense from him though. Just not seeing that offensive instincts and aggressiveness on that side of attack. Id like it if he was quicker with making passes or shots in the offensive zone.

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[ohheyhemsky]

I wonder how he's going to do under the new anti-slash NHL. It's a huge part of his game to control players on the half boards, in the corners or behind the net. Still, such a calming and hulking force at appropriate times.

I hope he just continues to grow on his defensive dominance and starts trying new things offensively to get that spark as the full 2 way d-man he was touted to be before his draft.

 

[Aerchon]

We're entering year two of having Larsson on the oilers.
I thought it would be nice to having a thread to discuss thoughts on his play good or bad.

For me I've really grown to appreciate the consistency of play. He reminds me of a little less nastier but more mobile Jason Smith. He is a top pairing even strength and penalty killing defensemen in my eyes.

I don't see a whole lot more offense from him though. Just not seeing that offensive instincts and aggressiveness on that side of attack. Id like it if he was quicker with making passes or shots in the offensive zone.

I seen less offense than I thought I would from reports of Devils fans but even as he was hyped defensively I have been very impressed with him in that way.

I still think he could turn into a 40 point defender but they really got to start practicing/putting him on the PP. Klefbom also needs to improve defensively a bit too to cover for Larsson if he wants to step up offensively.

Really hope both Lar and Klef take the next step.

 

[snipes]

Love our Swedish studs

 

[oobga]

I think they had 2 or 3 brutal runs of 4-5 games last season. Most of them resulted in Klef playing with Benning on the 3rd pair (boosting the heck out of his analytics), and Larsson gets Russell (lucky!).

I think 2 of those runs came when we were playing more games in less days than any team but Winnipeg, sure, there weren't lots of back to backs but playing something like 18 games in 34 days is no joke and I think they went a solid month and a half with only 1 2-day break. To add insult to injury we kept playing teams with 2,3,4,5 days off before playing us.

3rd time I think Klef just had a few stinker games defensively and got some more epic Benning time in the 3rd pair.

I'm seeing a lot more opportunity for consistency this year, more time for practice (basically didn't practice for over a month in Nov/Dec last season), and both guys are a year older. Hope they can both take a bit step playing our toughest minutes!

 

[Mr Positive]

There's always going to be a sect of NHL fans who say Larsson is not really top pairing material. He's never going to have a ton of points, but he will continue to make everyone around him look one tier better than they are, and making the opposition look one tier worse than they are.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

IMO anyone that thinks Larsson isn't a top pairing defenceman needs to put the stat sheet down and see an optometrist. He's never going to be a big point producer but he's nasty, solid defensively, can skate and move the puck effectively and play 24 minutes of nearly mistake-free hockey.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I've stated it before and I'll say it again... he's easily a top 15 defender in the NHL. I doubt I could pick 5 other dmen across the league that are better defensively and his only knock is that he doesn't have enough offense (due to his lack of PP time essentially).

Well, there's 2 sides of the game... putting the puck in and keeping it out. Larsson is elite at the defensive side and underrated at 5 on 5 offensively. He makes this team much better and is underrated as to the effect he had in helping this team become a 103 pt team last year.

 

[Spawn]

IMO anyone that thinks Larsson isn't a top pairing defenceman needs to put the stat sheet down and see an optometrist. He's never going to be a big point producer but he's nasty, solid defensively, can skate and move the puck effectively and play 24 minutes of nearly mistake-free hockey.

Only thing I'll disagree with in regards to your post is that Larsson has averaged closer to 20 minutes a game in his career than 24. It was that way in New Jersey, and it was that was last year in Edmonton.

Part of it is McLellan dividing the top minutes fairly evenly between the Klefbom/Larsson pairing and the Sekera/Russell pairing, but Larsson has never played the type of workhorse minutes you're suggesting.

 

[tempest2i]

Sometimes I wonder where all he skill he showed prior to being drafted went. Is it still hiding in there? Can he unlock it?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Sometimes I wonder where all he skill he showed prior to being drafted went. Is it still hiding in there? Can he unlock it?

Apparently back when he was still with the Devils he worked a lot with Scott Stevens and Stevens really helped him focus on his defensive game, how to play that style, adding nastiness to his game, when to go for the hit (adding the physical element in general to his game), blocking shots, etc. I think the Devils wanted him to become another Stevens type defender, but when his offense didn't naturally come I guess that's when they decided they would trade him for someone who WOULD bring more offense, in Hall. I'm just speculating on the last part. But yeah, if he's giving PP unit #2 time, and given the green light to rush the puck a little more, I could see him scoring 30-35 points. Would be nice to have Klefbom scoring 40-45 points a season and Larsson with 30-35. Maybe it'll happen. I do think he has a bit untapped offensive ability, but probably nothing like Hedman, who had a few similar seasons to Larsson, scoring around 20 points before he took off. Doubt we see that kind of offensive beast mode in Larsson, but yeah, he should be able to add a bit more offense. Hopefully he takes a few more chances on the rush this year, and Klefbom gives him the go-ahead, and says he'll stay behind and help cover for him when he does.

 

[aemoreira1981]

Sometimes I wonder where all he skill he showed prior to being drafted went. Is it still hiding in there? Can he unlock it?

In terms of offense, it really is an issue of how he's deployed in the NHL. Since DeBoer was fired, Larsson has been used in anything but sheltered minutes and gets largely defensive starts. That is because on the Devlls, there wasn't anyone else who could do the job. That has become Larsson's calling card since...defensive stalwart in the mold of M.E. Vlasic, but even more valuable being a right defenseman.

 

[Zguy370]

12 posts in 4 days, 2 from the US, man we really miss Hall

 

[Aerrol]

12 posts in 4 days, 2 from the US, man we really miss Hall

I mean, with the mods necro-ing a lot of old threads to save them before the purge, I think the thread just got pushed down and out of sight really quickly. There's plenty of in-fighting (I mean discussion ) about RNH and Puljujarvi's NHL readiness going on.

As for the topic, I don't think I ever see him being a 40 point dman unless scoring goes up again drastically, but I'm very happy to have him on the top pairing regardless. Serious steadying presence on the backend and good passing skills to get the puck out of our zone quickly in our possession (rather than dump-ins that do nothing but give it back to the other team *cough* Russell *cough*). Would be nice to be proven wrong though - if he can develop a better shot he might get some second unit PP time.

 

[nexttothemoon]

As mentioned up above, Vlasic is likely a decent comparable.

Vlasic has only exceeded 30 pts twice in his career and hasn't hit 40 ever.. yet I don't think anyone would consider him anything less than an elite top pairing dman for what he does at both ends of the ice.

 

[Jumptheshark]

IMO anyone that thinks Larsson isn't a top pairing defenceman needs to put the stat sheet down and see an optometrist. He's never going to be a big point producer but he's nasty, solid defensively, can skate and move the puck effectively and play 24 minutes of nearly mistake-free hockey.

Nice to see you have come to the dark side with me on how good larsson is

 

[MessierII]

As mentioned up above, Vlasic is likely a decent comparable.

Vlasic has only exceeded 30 pts twice in his career and hasn't hit 40 ever.. yet I don't think anyone would consider him anything less than an elite top pairing dman for what he does at both ends of the ice.

He defends totally different from vlassic but the results are similar. Vlassic plays defence more like Klefbom, he uses his skating, stick work and positioning to defend where as Larsson likes to take the inside and play the body rather than the puck.

 

[Panda Bear]

Larsson plays the body so much because he's so good at angling players away from the net and into the boards. #positioning

 

[McBigYak]

A poor mans Adam Foote. Which is in no way an insult. He's going to be a staple on this defense for a long time.

 

[MoneyGuy]

A poor mans Adam Foote. Which is in no way an insult. He's going to be a staple on this defense for a long time.

Soon Adam Foote will be called a poor man's Adam Larsson.

 

[McBigYak]

Soon Adam Foote will be called a poor man's Adam Larsson.

I hope so haha.

 

[oobga]

I just like thinking of him as the Swedish Jason Smith. The Swede in him keeps him from fighting

I say this as someone that loved Jason Smith. I don't doubt many would disagree hoping for more offensive upside than Smith provided in his NHL career. But Smith was a damn effective D and one of the better leaders we ever had, leading by example and laying it all out on the ice every single night.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Only thing I'll disagree with in regards to your post is that Larsson has averaged closer to 20 minutes a game in his career than 24. It was that way in New Jersey, and it was that was last year in Edmonton.

Part of it is McLellan dividing the top minutes fairly evenly between the Klefbom/Larsson pairing and the Sekera/Russell pairing, but Larsson has never played the type of workhorse minutes you're suggesting.

He was 23 to start last season, Have patience.

Also - his real first name is Nils.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Nice to see you have come to the dark side with me on how good larsson is

We still lost that trade... but it was a losing trade we needed to make.

 

[KlefDown]

I like him but I absolutely hate his offensive game.
Sometimes it's like he doesn't WANT to score.