Lidstrom - "Adam Larsson carries #5 with Dignity"

[Devils Dominion]

Lars is gonna be a workhorse/shut down 1st paring defenseman for us for quite a while.

His development was rushed by Lou and that initially stunted his growth IMO.

Plus, he was over-rated by many of you since draft day and he won't reach your lofty expectations.

However, he's finally looking comfortable on & off the ice here in North America.
We haven't seen his best yet either.

 

[Offseason Champs]

Lars is gonna be a workhorse/shut down 1st paring defenseman for us for quite a while.

His development was rushed by Lou and that initially stunted his growth IMO.

Plus, he was over-rated by many of you since draft day and he won't reach your lofty expectations.

However, he's finally looking comfortable on & off the ice here in North America.
We haven't seen his best yet either.

Well, Defensemen usually take longer to develop so I don't know if I agree about stunting his growth early on. Not a whole lot, if any, 19 year olds make the NHL as a d-man and light the world on fire right away. I immediately think of Victor Hedman, who was touted as one of the best young guys when he was drafted. It took him five years in the NHL to start to find his game and now he's arguably one of the top guys at his position at 25 years old. Doughty has put up numbers since he was 20, but I think only since the Kings' cup run in 2012 has he really matured into the dominant defenseman he has become.

Basically the next two years I think we're going to see if Adam can take that next step towards being elite or if it'll plateau at this "very good" level he has reached.

There's no reason he can't reach the lofty expectations because I think many expect him to become a stud in the same vein as Hedman/Doughty and I do think that Larsson is on his way to making a run at that type of player. His offensive game might not pan out, as others have been talking about on the previous page, but we'll see. I'm pretty optimistic about his future for sure. The quickest way for a rookie blueliner to "get good" is to gather as much experience as possible, and I think this year and last year we began to see the results of that experience. His gap control, positioning, decisions with the puck, and his demeanor are all changing. Maybe that's because of Greenie paired with him, but I don't think that's solely it. We'll see what happens next year. It's pretty exciting to see where his ceiling may end up, since I agree that I don't think we've even seen his best yet.

 

[RSeen]

I can't see any argument for Larsson being at Hedman or Doughty level potential. He is not even close to them offensively and hasn't shown much potential.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I can't see any argument for Larsson being at Hedman or Doughty level potential. He is not even close to them offensively and hasn't shown much potential.

He's not as good offensively, but that doesn't mean that he isn't on their level defensively. Plus, Hedman and Doughty get enormous powerplay minutes. If you give Larsson the same usage, he's probably a lot closer in terms of offensive production. Also remember that Larsson is on the lowest scoring team in the league and Doughty and Hedman play on two pretty dynamic offensive teams. If you have Larsson running the Lightning or Kings powerplay, his numbers would skyrocket. He may not quite be on a Doughty/Hedman level, but his numbers would improve substantially.

 

[VoidCreature]

With all this talk about Larsson's shot, it's worth noting that he led his team in shots on goal by a defenseman. He's also 4th in that category across the whole tournament.

 

[Oneiro]

Larsson doesn't have the IQ of Doughty (in both zones) nor does he have the physical gifts that Hedman has. I doubt he ever gets to their level, despite all his growth so far.

He will produce the way Suter or Pietrangelo produces. That is if he produces at all.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Larsson doesn't have the IQ of Doughty (in both zones) nor does he have the physical gifts that Hedman has. I doubt he ever gets to their level, despite all his growth so far.

He will produce the way Suter or Pietrangelo produces. That is if he produces at all.

Larsson's problem isn't his IQ. I think it's actually pretty strong. It's his skating. That is what will keep Larsson from become an elite overall defenseman.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Larsson makes some poor decisions. I'm not even sure they're bad decisions, it just seems to take him a while to reach them. Like, he has to consciously think about what to next instead of relying on his instincts. Top tier players are automatic in that regard.

 

[Oneiro]

^Yeah, that's pretty much what I was going for. I didn't mean to suggest that Larsson is a low IQ player. Just that his habits are not as automatic as the very top tier of the league.

But he's got a lot of growth in him, still.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I think Larsson's hockey IQ is fine. It's his skating and his confidence (particularly when it comes to experimenting or taking risks offensively) that hold him back the most in my opinion. Hopefully his skating can continue to get better, and he can continue to gain confidence in his offensive abilities. I don't want to predict a ceiling for him, but I have seen what Larsson can do when he's feeling confident enough to experiment a bit offensively, and there have been some positive results from that. If he could find the confidence to take more risks consistently, I think we'd see more growth offensively. I guess I've seen flashes of potential in Larsson where he shows he can really contribute offensively, but I'd love to see those flashes more often. Maybe that will happen next season.

 

[Nordic*]

OEL
Karlsson
Hedman

Can any nation compare to that top-3?

Then Hjalmarsson, Lindholm, Ekholm, Klefbom, Brodin, Larsson, Edler, Kronwall, Klingberg, Enström etc.

Sweden is stacked on the back-end. I have a really hard time seeing Larsson being invited to the world cup.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

OEL
Karlsson
Hedman

Can any nation compare to that top-3?

Then Hjalmarsson, Lindholm, Ekholm, Klefbom, Brodin, Larsson, Edler, Kronwall, Klingberg, Enström etc.

Sweden is stacked on the back-end. I have a really hard time seeing Larsson being invited to the world cup.

Sweden has a lot of strong candidates to choose from for the final spot on defense. I'd be happy if Larsson could keep himself in the mix for the final spot. It would certainly be a bit of an uphill climb for him to make it (and I think Adam knows that) but still to put himself in the conversation is a huge step forward than where he was two seasons ago.

 

[DerekDevils30]

OEL
Karlsson
Hedman

Can any nation compare to that top-3?

Then Hjalmarsson, Lindholm, Ekholm, Klefbom, Brodin, Larsson, Edler, Kronwall, Klingberg, Enström etc.

Sweden is stacked on the back-end. I have a really hard time seeing Larsson being invited to the world cup.

Larsson will be in the mix for the same reason ME Vlasic and Seabrook have been included on Canada's rosters. As good offensively OEL and Karlsson are, they can be liabilities defensively without the right partner. Larsson is undoubtedly better than multiple guys on your list. I'm not saying he will make it but he will be in the mix.

I REALLY want an Ekman-Larsson-Larsson pairing. Not only is that a match made in heaven, it would be fun for the commentators

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Larsson will be in the mix for the same reason ME Vlasic and Seabrook have been included on Canada's rosters. As good offensively OEL and Karlsson are, they can be liabilities defensively without the right partner. Larsson is undoubtedly better than multiple guys on your list. I'm not saying he will make it but he will be in the mix.

I REALLY want an Ekman-Larsson-Larsson pairing. Not only is that a match made in heaven, it would be fun for the commentators

Does it just get shortened to Ekman-Larsson when they are paired together?

 

[Bleedred]

Larsson will be in the mix for the same reason ME Vlasic and Seabrook have been included on Canada's rosters. As good offensively OEL and Karlsson are, they can be liabilities defensively without the right partner. Larsson is undoubtedly better than multiple guys on your list. I'm not saying he will make it but he will be in the mix.

I REALLY want an Ekman-Larsson-Larsson pairing. Not only is that a match made in heaven, it would be fun for the commentators

Does it just get shortened to Ekman-Larsson when they are paired together?

Who wouldn't want a defense pairing with 3 defensemen on it? We'd probably be getting a lot of too many men calls against us though.

 

[NJDevs26]

I REALLY want an Ekman-Larsson-Larsson pairing. Not only is that a match made in heaven, it would be fun for the commentators

I'd prefer the Larsson-Ekman-Larsson pairing...that'd be fantastic

 

[RSeen]

He's not as good offensively, but that doesn't mean that he isn't on their level defensively. Plus, Hedman and Doughty get enormous powerplay minutes. If you give Larsson the same usage, he's probably a lot closer in terms of offensive production. Also remember that Larsson is on the lowest scoring team in the league and Doughty and Hedman play on two pretty dynamic offensive teams. If you have Larsson running the Lightning or Kings powerplay, his numbers would skyrocket. He may not quite be on a Doughty/Hedman level, but his numbers would improve substantially.

Larsson is nowhere near the offensive player as those 2, to suggest that he would be with PP time is quite frankly laughable. He doesn't get PP time largely because of his role in a shutdown pairing but he also hasn't shown much offense. He is not a threat from the point and isn't particularly creative in the offensive zone.

 

[RSeen]

Larsson will be in the mix for the same reason ME Vlasic and Seabrook have been included on Canada's rosters. As good offensively OEL and Karlsson are, they can be liabilities defensively without the right partner. Larsson is undoubtedly better than multiple guys on your list. I'm not saying he will make it but he will be in the mix.

I REALLY want an Ekman-Larsson-Larsson pairing. Not only is that a match made in heaven, it would be fun for the commentators

They are not liabilities defensively. Karlsson has the reputation from his past but he is solid defensively.

 

[RSeen]

Larsson doesn't have the IQ of Doughty (in both zones) nor does he have the physical gifts that Hedman has. I doubt he ever gets to their level, despite all his growth so far.

He will produce the way Suter or Pietrangelo produces. That is if he produces at all.

Those are top 7-8 Dmen. At least Suter was in his prime. I don't think Larsson has the offensive potential of these 2.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

OEL
Karlsson
Hedman

Can any nation compare to that top-3?

Then Hjalmarsson, Lindholm, Ekholm, Klefbom, Brodin, Larsson, Edler, Kronwall, Klingberg, Enström etc.

Sweden is stacked on the back-end. I have a really hard time seeing Larsson being invited to the world cup.

um, Canada?

Doughty, Keith, Weber, Burns, etc etc

 

[Brodeur]

Strange thing about Canada is the depth they have with RHD while not being quite as deep on the left side. Hence a solid guy like Hamhuis being on their Sochi club over some more heralded D.

 

[DerekDevils30]

They are not liabilities defensively. Karlsson has the reputation from his past but he is solid defensively.

Karlsson is laughably bad at times in his own zone. He more than makes up for it on the transition side and offensively but he is prone to abuse when the puck isn't going up the ice.

 

[RSeen]

Karlsson is laughably bad at times in his own zone. He more than makes up for it on the transition side and offensively but he is prone to abuse when the puck isn't going up the ice.

Completely disagree. He is above average defensively. He is not as poor as he was early in his career without a doubt.

 

[DerekDevils30]

Completely disagree. He is above average defensively. He is not as poor as he was early in his career without a doubt.

Fair enough. He is a hell of a player, no doubt.

 

[None Shall Pass]

OEL
Karlsson
Hedman

Can any nation compare to that top-3?

Then Hjalmarsson, Lindholm, Ekholm, Klefbom, Brodin, Larsson, Edler, Kronwall, Klingberg, Enström etc.

Sweden is stacked on the back-end. I have a really hard time seeing Larsson being invited to the world cup.

I take Larsson over any of the bolded without thinking twice.