Adam Larsson potential

[Saugus]

Thanks for all your feedback guys. All this being said, would you guys trade Larsson for someone like John Carlson? (an also young but fairly established D-man)? Or is Larsson's potential too great at this point?

No, definitely not. But your mention of Carlson will bring the Tedenby lamenters out of the woodwork. Some people still aren't over the fact that we picked Tedenby when Carlson was available.

 

[Bleedred]

That's cause Tedenby sucks and is a bust.

I really don't want Carlson though. He'd probably be a healthy scratch for the Devils anyway.

 

[Devils86]

He needs to vastly improve his skating. he gets no PP time for 1 Kovy plays all 2 min and 2 his footwook is so poor he doesnt do a good job at the blueline and often gets beat past it.3 His shot while tipable is very weak. On the flip side his reach is amazing and his positioning has improved and unlike some others I think his decision making is solid. I see a 1/2nd pair D guy with 30 pt potential

 

[devilsblood]

I've seen a lot of young defensemen come and go watching several different teams. I would say Larsson is a very special kid who will likely be a #1 Defenseman. He'll be that good primarily based on his shut-down and transition ability.

Offensively, his shot is pathetic, but he uses it smartly, looking for deflections. Unless someone teaches him to shoot an accurate 90+ mph slap shot, he'll top out around 30-35 points per year.

I can't tell if his shot is pathetic. He never leans into one.

 

[devilsblood]

He needs to vastly improve his skating. he gets no PP time for 1 Kovy plays all 2 min and 2 his footwook is so poor he doesnt do a good job at the blueline and often gets beat past it.3 His shot while tipable is very weak. On the flip side his reach is amazing and his positioning has improved and unlike some others I think his decision making is solid. I see a 1/2nd pair D guy with 30 pt potential

I think he has pretty nimble feet for a bigger guy.

 

[devilsblood]

dont need to be a burner, but when youre barely faster than volchenkov u aint gonna be a top pairing dman unless youre a physical beast. kid needs to get faster to get to the next level thats pretty obvious to me.

Barely faster then Volch? C'mon man.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Larsson is pretty slow and can't skate backwards well.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Larsson is pretty slow and can't skate backwards well.

I've now heard it all.

I don't think it's his speed that causes him to get beat, it's his ability to judge time and space. That should progress with experience.

 

[BrodeursCups]

I've now heard it all.

I don't think it's his speed that causes him to get beat, it's his ability to judge time and space. That should progress with experience.

You're definitely right about that. His gap control as well. But damn I love his reach and how good he is with his stick. Definitely allows him to recover from mistakes..

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I never said it was his speed that causes him to get beat.

but you're lying if you say hes a good skater. hes not.

 

[Devils731]

Larsson's straight ahead speed is pretty decent. His ability to move sideways or backwards from standing still(or change direction) and accelerate is pretty poor. So Larsson's game speed is often slower than his potential speed.

If Larsson's footwork really improves this offseason then he immediately becomes a pretty good 2/3 type guy and still has lots of room to improve.

 

[Saugus]

I've now heard it all.

I don't think it's his speed that causes him to get beat, it's his ability to judge time and space. That should progress with experience.

Agreed. He needs work on his positioning for rushes to the outside, but otherwise he's already already excellent with his positioning.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I never said it was his speed that causes him to get beat.

but you're lying if you say hes a good skater. hes not.

i agree idk what people are watching if they dont think he's a below average skater. i think he'll improve, but he's one of our slower dman atm. he's faster than sal and volch but slower than greene, fayne, harrold, and tallinder.

 

[Sykie]

hedman is way better at this point in every way imo. he's probably the most underrated dman in the league.

It's message like the Saugus one saying Larsson is already better defensively than Hedman that makes Larsson overrated really. We were all excited to see the Devils win the lottery and take Larsson, but this overhyping seriously needs to stop.

Hedman at 20 was playing 21 minutes a night at Tampa Bay, the second most used player in front of guys like Kubina or Ohlund. His offensive game was not a finished product (but was superior to Larsson's anyway) but he was already a force defensively. He was not far from being a real first line D in fact.

At the same age, Larsson was scratched five times in the last dozen games, and when he plays, didn't show anything special on either side of the ice. Larsson is not even close to be on the level of Hedman at 20, and after seing a lot of both, I could easily argue that Hedman in his first year was already better than Larsson now.

I don't say this to say Larsson is a bust or anything like that. He is a promissing player and a key part of the Devils future. But this overhyping really needs to stop. Let's just say Larsson is an okay D now, he'll probably grow into a very good top-four and maybe, a real first line player. But let's stop with the silly comparaisons and overating because it's starting to really become anoying. Larsson is not even close to Hedman, and really the only similarities between them are the nationality and the position they play.

 

[Saugus]

Larsson is being mishandled by the Devils coaching staff, and Tampa had nobody else to play those minutes. Comparing the number of minutes they play is not a valid comparison because it is subject to way too many external factors that are beyond their control.

 

[Sykie]

The Tampa Bay defense was no worse than the Devils (on paper at least, cause we know in reality the Devils defense is usually more than the names). Hedman would have been our #1 now, along with Andy Greene.

At 20, Hedman was vastly superior to Larsson. Hedman was close to be a #1 already at that age, while Larsson was not even an absolute regular in here.

I think we need to avoid the foolish comparaisons, and stop overhyping Larsson just because we are excited to have a good young talent here. The guy barely player a couple games and people already talked about him like the next big thing... come on. So far he didn't do anything incredible really. So let's have a breath, and simply wait for him to become the defensman we hope he will become instead of exagerating his level now...

 

[Sykie]

And about mismanagement, I dunno, honestly.

He came here with some big responsabilities offensively (which I thought was too early at the time), but failed to lead the PP. They now bring him slower and I think it's the good decision. His offensive game is quite calm now, and defensively, he gets burned quite often. I think it's important not to go too fast here.

I don't like when he's scratched though. I'd prefer to see him taking first line minute in the AHL in this case.

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

The Tampa Bay defense was no worse than the Devils (on paper at least, cause we know in reality the Devils defense is usually more than the names). Hedman would have been our #1 now, along with Andy Greene.

At 20, Hedman was vastly superior to Larsson. Hedman was close to be a #1 already at that age, while Larsson was not even an absolute regular in here.

I think we need to avoid the foolish comparaisons, and stop overhyping Larsson just because we are excited to have a good young talent here. The guy barely player a couple games and people already talked about him like the next big thing... come on. So far he didn't do anything incredible really. So let's have a breath, and simply wait for him to become the defensman we hope he will become instead of exagerating his level now...

I fully agree with your comments.

Larsson might turn into something special but from what he's shown us so far, he doesn't as good as Hedman was at the same age.

Adam's skating will have to get alot better then what it is today cause he doesn't look like a regular NHL'er when he has to pivot plus his foot speed is pretty weak as well.

Those are things he can work on during the offseason and I'm certain he'll get better at it in the near future but as of today, I can understand why Pete does bench him from time to time. DeBoer is there to win games, period. He's also there to groom our kids but his #1 priority is to rack up as many wins as possible or else he'll be out of a job, so sometimes, that means keeping Adam off the ice and go with a veteran instead.

With the surplus of d-men, I think a 20 year old will benefit 10x more by loging heavy minutes in the AHL then getting a minimal role at the NHL level. We are breaking the kids condifence by leaving him in the press box for a extended period of time and he even said so himself, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The Tampa Bay defense was no worse than the Devils (on paper at least, cause we know in reality the Devils defense is usually more than the names). Hedman would have been our #1 now, along with Andy Greene.

At 20, Hedman was vastly superior to Larsson. Hedman was close to be a #1 already at that age, while Larsson was not even an absolute regular in here.

I think we need to avoid the foolish comparaisons, and stop overhyping Larsson just because we are excited to have a good young talent here. The guy barely player a couple games and people already talked about him like the next big thing... come on. So far he didn't do anything incredible really. So let's have a breath, and simply wait for him to become the defensman we hope he will become instead of exagerating his level now...

I agree. Larsson has a chance to become a good player, but he's not quite there yet, while hedman is a little offensive development away from being an elite top 10 defenseman.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Is it just me or does Larsson already look better than Hedman did defensively at this age?

I think the offensive stats cloud people's memory on some really questionable plays in his own zone.

 

[MakoSlade]

Is it just me or does Larsson already look better than Hedman did defensively at this age?

I think the offensive stats cloud people's memory on some really questionable plays in his own zone.

I kind of remember Hedman getting a lot of hate his second year. Now, I hear the guy was leaps and bounds better than Larsson second year. What changed?

 

[Tretyak 20]

I kind of remember Hedman getting a lot of hate his second year. Now, I hear the guy was leaps and bounds better than Larsson second year. What changed?

Back then half the board wasn't down on Lou and DeBoer.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I never said that he was better at Larsson's stage of his career, but as of now Hedman is a borderline elite defenseman. Larsson has been pretty good as of late, but he hasn't shown me anything to indicate being a GREAT defenseman. Hedman has more tools than just about anyone and that was clear since he was 17. There isn't a comparison to be had unless Larsson continues to progress. It's like comparing Matteau to an established power forward, it really doesn't make sense to do yet.

 

[Sykie]

Is it just me or does Larsson already look better than Hedman did defensively at this age?

I think the offensive stats cloud people's memory on some really questionable plays in his own zone.

See above. Not even close... come on.

As for makoslade, Hedman was never "hated". Some people just questionned if he would be worth a #2 pick, as his offensive game came along quite slowly. But it's a bit stupid to be honest... Hedman came steadily, especially with his defensive game which is top-notch now. Juste because the guy didn't score à la Doughty doesn't mean he was not worth a top-pick. He simply came as a defensive specialist first and IMHO it's just as good this way.

The bottom line, he was at 20 a first line D for Tampa, with a high level defensive game and a 26 points production. Larsson is simply not at that level and that's my point. I think we should put this kind of exagerated comparaison to rest and simply let Larsson becomes Larsson IMHO.

 

[FirmestPiano]

Hedman was pretty awful for a time there. Can't remember exactly which season it was. I know when I saw him at the WC (2011-12 season), he was bloody awful defensively. The time he did in the KHL during the lockout seems to have done him some good though.

Think people are underrating Larsson though. His defensive game is already at a high level, arguably the best on the team except for Greene. 1st season we saw some good glimpses of his offensive ability and this season he has improved his defensive game a lot. Hopefully next season he can show us both his offense and defensive game.

He did have 19 points in 33 games in the AHL after all, on a pretty bad Albany team. So the offense is definitely there, he just needs to show it (/ be allowed to) on the NHL level. Putting him on the 2nd PP unit would definitely help.

Have to remember that Hedman also get's quite a lot of PP time in TB.