Lidstrom - "Adam Larsson carries #5 with Dignity"

[Devils Trap]

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/article22831298.ab

Its in Swedish, but essentially this article is multiple Swedish hockey people giving Adam alot of love. Here is the part where Lidstrom talks about him specifically

"Adam has become better and better. In New Jersey, they want him to carry the defense in the future.In the World Championships, I think he has become more comfortable with the big ice and can both play short passes in his own zone when he is pressed and also go up with the puck. He is also familiar with the physical game.

Is he considered for the World Cup team?
Yes, he is. It's a pretty fierce battle for last place on the defense side. Klingberg, Lindholm, Ekholm and Larsson are all trying for that spot. Just like Larsson these guys all excel at different parts of the game. We'll see who the Three Crowns choose in the end.

Click to read more...

 

[Brodeur]

Still bummed for Adam that he ended up being a healthy scratch for his one and only game against Lidstrom late in the 2011-12 season. I believe he got to take part in warmups at least, but would have been nice for him to officially have played against Lidstrom.

Good to hear that Larsson is at least on Sweden's radar. Seemed like a couple years ago he'd been bypassed by a few young guys with whispers of Swedish scouts wondering if Larsson's development had stalled.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Sweet! Good for Lars to earn such high praise, and as far as I'm concerned he's only getting better.

Patience is the key with these young defensemen and Lars is the perfect example of that for our other guys.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

High praise coming from Lidstrom. I hope Larsson can make Team Sweden for the World Cup, but if he doesn't, I think in the future, he'll make teams like that. In the NHL and internationally, he should have a bright future.

 

[John Pedro]

Good to hear (read). He's been good in this WC.

His D-partner (Gustafsson) and the Sweden team, in general, are quite bad, though.

He did a great job on the PP for them. Moving the puck really well and setting people up. His shot is a real weakness if he wants to be a PP regular he needs to improve it.

4pts in 7 games with another assist today. Not bad.

 

[NorwegianDevil]

Wow, 29 minutes vs Switzerland!

Hes also been playing the PP lately, which Adam himself cant remember how long its been since last time!

Ily Larsi!

 

[VoidCreature]

Wow, 29 minutes vs Switzerland!

Hes also been playing the PP lately, which Adam himself cant remember how long its been since last time!

Ily Larsi!

Hopefully this convinces Hynes he can handle that many minutes. Love to see him on the PP for us.

 

[JK3]

Dignity? Apparently he hasn't seen the toilet photo lol.

Good for Lars, glad to see him doing well.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Hopefully this convinces Hynes he can handle that many minutes. Love to see him on the PP for us.

PP was working without him, and I don't see the need to make him play that many minutes over the long grind of a season. He already is a key PKer.

 

[VoidCreature]

PP was working without him, and I don't see the need to make him play that many minutes over the long grind of a season. He already is a key PKer.

He has a lot of offensive ability we're not taking advantage of. If we can get a more stable bottom pairing next year hopefully we'll be able to spread the defensive zone starts a little more evenly. I don't think anyone wants to lean as heavily on one pair for that as we had to last year.

 

[MadDevil]

They could change his usage up a little bit to put him in more offensive situations, but given how good he and Greene are together defensively I can understand keeping them together and giving other guys PP time.

 

[Devilsfan992]

They could change his usage up a little bit to put him in more offensive situations, but given how good he and Greene are together defensively I can understand keeping them together and giving other guys PP time.

Does anyone know if his usage changed towards the end of the season as we were already out of the playoff race. At that point, it would've been nice throwing him so PP minutes.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I love Google Translate

And after SM silver with Skelleftea in 2011, he chose to go over that 18-year-old to the New Jersey Devils , the team which then ruled by diehard Lou Lamoriello, and Big Lou put his stamp on everything, from inhandling iso-tape to the slopes will beat the first pass.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He has a lot of offensive ability we're not taking advantage of. If we can get a more stable bottom pairing next year hopefully we'll be able to spread the defensive zone starts a little more evenly. I don't think anyone wants to lean as heavily on one pair for that as we had to last year.

The zone starts are being elevated to much. The entire defense wasn't putting up big numbers, most likely because of a lack of possession, a **** bottom 6 that can't chip in those dirty goals and the offense just not running through the D that often. Putting him on the PP takes someone else off it. Net goals for the team won't increase, and it might wear him down to play him 30 minutes a night in all situations.

It makes zero sense to bend over backwards to put Lars in more offensive friendly situations, especially when he is our top shut down guy and we need him in that role more.

The only way they do it is if they go back to two D at the points, but since the PP was 8th overall they won't do a big system change. Taking Severson off it for Lars makes zero sense.

 

[AfroThunder396]

The zone starts are being elevated to much. The entire defense wasn't putting up big numbers, most likely because of a lack of possession, a **** bottom 6 that can't chip in those dirty goals and the offense just not running through the D that often. Putting him on the PP takes someone else off it. Net goals for the team won't increase, and it might wear him down to play him 30 minutes a night in all situations.

It makes zero sense to bend over backwards to put Lars in more offensive friendly situations, especially when he is our top shut down guy and we need him in that role more.

The only way they do it is if they go back to two D at the points, but since the PP was 8th overall they won't do a big system change. Taking Severson off it for Lars makes zero sense.

It's a combination of all those factors. The defense as a whole did a poor job producing, and that is largely a function of having an overall bad offensive team.

Still though, the defense needs an upgrade. We're ridiculously top-heavy, and that's never a good thing. We have guys playing above their heads, which is a bad situation when you have a defense as young as we do. I'm not expecting Larsson to put up 60 points with more zone starts and PP time, but he's talented enough to get both.

Coaches find ways to put their elite players in positions to succeed. I don't buy the idea that just because a guy is good at defense that it's all you use him for. A guy like Ryan Suter, for example, is a defensive workhorse but he still has a 53% OZ start and 3:40 of PP TOI/G. Not that we should expect Larsson to get a Norris finish next year, but there's definitely room for improvement in terms of managing the defense.

 

[Emperoreddy]

It's a combination of all those factors. The defense as a whole did a poor job producing, and that is largely a function of having an overall bad offensive team.

Still though, the defense needs an upgrade. We're ridiculously top-heavy, and that's never a good thing. We have guys playing above their heads, which is a bad situation when you have a defense as young as we do. I'm not expecting Larsson to put up 60 points with more zone starts and PP time, but he's talented enough to get both.

Coaches find ways to put their elite players in positions to succeed. I don't buy the idea that just because a guy is good at defense that it's all you use him for. A guy like Ryan Suter, for example, is a defensive workhorse but he still has a 53% OZ start and 3:40 of PP TOI/G. Not that we should expect Larsson to get a Norris finish next year, but there's definitely room for improvement in terms of managing the defense.

Who are you giving him PP time over if we are using 4 forwards? The worst offensive team in the league was 8th overall on the PP. Seems like one of the last things we should be fiddling with.

Lars will score more when the forwards get better at maintaining pressure and just flat out better at scoring. He is never going to get assists when the team has trouble breaking out properly, holding the zone, or finishing. Plus I don't think Lars has so much offensive potential that we need to rearrange things so much. We just need to balance out the other pairs better. We really need a 2nd pairing anchor.

 

[HobokenIrish]

"We'll see who the Three Crowns choose in the end."

Straight out of Game of Thrones

 

[DerekDevils30]

I think Goligoski would be the perfect partner for Larsson and would balance the top 4.

I am thrilled with what Larsson has become. An elite shut down D and there is still some room to grow. I hope the PP time increases next season and we get to see some of the offense he's flashed at the IIHF Championship.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Who are you giving him PP time over if we are using 4 forwards? The worst offensive team in the league was 8th overall on the PP. Seems like one of the last things we should be fiddling with.

Lars will score more when the forwards get better at maintaining pressure and just flat out better at scoring. He is never going to get assists when the team has trouble breaking out properly, holding the zone, or finishing. Plus I don't think Lars has so much offensive potential that we need to rearrange things so much. We just need to balance out the other pairs better. We really need a 2nd pairing anchor.

Well yes, this is what it boils down to.

Personally I don't like the 4 F set up with the way the team is currently set up. I mean it worked in 2012 but look at the forward depth we had back then. We barely have 8 NHL forwards on the roster. Having guys like Kalinin and Tootoo out there for regular PP shifts is a recipe for disaster. Just put Greene-Larsson out there for one unit and Severson-Schlemko out there for the other.

I get what Hynes is trying to do but we don't have the horses for it right now. I think the main reason for our PP being so successful was Palmieri, who really surprised with his Kovalchukian one-timer from the top of the circle. We shouldn't expect that to be as effective this year now that teams will be looking for it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don't think we need Lars to turn into Doughty. Kid is already one of the better shut down guys in the league. He really solid on the break out.

Of course I want to see him score more, but he doesn't need to be at Norris levels for us to be successful as a whole. Few more points on D won't make the difference anyway. We have to get it elsewhere, and Lar's numbers will increase with the team.

Still he is an excellent piece for us to have, and it is good to see some in the larger hockey world are giving him the credit he deserves (would suck if he gets the underrated Greene treatment).

 

[Emperoreddy]

Well yes, this is what it boils down to.

Personally I don't like the 4 F set up with the way the team is currently set up. I mean it worked in 2012 but look at the forward depth we had back then. We barely have 8 NHL forwards on the roster. Having guys like Kalinin and Tootoo out there for regular PP shifts is a recipe for disaster. Just put Greene-Larsson out there for one unit and Severson-Schlemko out there for the other.

I get what Hynes is trying to do but we don't have the horses for it right now. I think the main reason for our PP being so successful was Palmieri, who really surprised with his Kovalchukian one-timer from the top of the circle. We shouldn't expect that to be as effective this year now that teams will be looking for it.

I mean you say we don't have the horses, but we were 8th in the NHL this year. It worked with our current roster.

No reason to assume the team can't repeat. The PP wasn't a one trick pony show.

 

[VoidCreature]

Who are you giving him PP time over if we are using 4 forwards? The worst offensive team in the league was 8th overall on the PP. Seems like one of the last things we should be fiddling with.

Lars will score more when the forwards get better at maintaining pressure and just flat out better at scoring. He is never going to get assists when the team has trouble breaking out properly, holding the zone, or finishing. Plus I don't think Lars has so much offensive potential that we need to rearrange things so much. We just need to balance out the other pairs better. We really need a 2nd pairing anchor.

When Larsson was drafted one of the things he was touted for was his ability to quarterback a power play. He did some of that in his first season, but never really got put back on it. Look at what David Schlemko was able to do this season with more opportunity.

I think we should at least give him a shot at it in camp. If it ends up being only a marginal upgrade we can always shuffle it back, but I think there's some real upside there.

I mean you say we don't have the horses, but we were 8th in the NHL this year. It worked with our current roster.

No reason to assume the team can't repeat. The PP wasn't a one trick pony show.

Ray Shero mentioned the PP falling a bit as one of his concerns going into next season. It worked this year, but that doesn't mean it'll be dynamite for sure next year. Any chance you have to improve you take.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I mean you say we don't have the horses, but we were 8th in the NHL this year. It worked with our current roster.

No reason to assume the team can't repeat. The PP wasn't a one trick pony show.

Well yeah, like I said in my other post I credit a lot of that to Palmieri having a career year. Look at the PP splits from last year, Palmieri had 23 PP points and Zajac had 17 PP points (his excellent chemistry with Palmieri has been well documented), next closest has 12.

Henrique was pretty average on the PP, Stempniak won't be back, Camm and Joe we can't count on to play a ton of games with their tendency to get hurt. After that we're getting into Tyler Kennedy territory.

Looks to me like Palmieri was really driving the bus on the PP, and now teams are going to be expecting him to be the trigger man. For us now in May to be banking on a great PP in October just because it was great the year before is foolish IMO. There's always room for improvement, and there were some flaws that need to be worked out.

Anyways, back to Larsson. I think he has a lot to offer on the PP. His passing is superb, he knows when to pinch and when not to, and he has very good offensive vision in the zone.

 

[Emperoreddy]

When Larsson was drafted one of the things he was touted for was his ability to quarterback a power play. He did some of that in his first season, but never really got put back on it. Look at what David Schlemko was able to do this season with more opportunity.

I think we should at least give him a shot at it in camp. If it ends up being only a marginal upgrade we can always shuffle it back, but I think there's some real upside there.



Ray Shero mentioned the PP falling a bit as one of his concerns going into next season. It worked this year, but that doesn't mean it'll be dynamite for sure next year. Any chance you have to improve you take.

Forward is where we need to improve, and realistically it won't regress that much if at all. We have a fresh crop of forwards coming in.

I just want Lars to keep doing what he is doing. He will get his points.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Assists like the one Larsson got today, show how much playing on a PP can artificially boost your point production.