After being selected 4th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Larsson immediately made the jump to the NHL with the Devils and had a pretty successful rookie campaign. While he showed glimpses and small spurts of the player he could one day become, he didn't even scratch the surface of his potential. In this article I take a look at why we can expect bigger and better things from the 19-year old defenseman in the upcoming season, if there is one.
More ice
Larsson averaged a little over 20 minutes per game on defense last year, which was third on the team only behind Henrik Tallinder, who missed 43 games due to a blood clot, and Marek Zidlicky, who was acquired around the trade deadline. I'm not necessarily referring to ice time per game when I say he'll see more ice, though. Larsson sat out 17 games in the regular season last year and I expect that number to dramatically shrink. Larsson missed some of those 17 games due to injury, but the majority of them he sat out as a healthy scratch. Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello has said Larsson will play more this year and he will be a regular, so there will be no sitting for him unless he really, really struggles. He won't be sitting out in the playoffs, either, assuming the Devils return.
Powerplay time
Besides a couple shifts here and there at the beginning of the season, Larsson really didn't play much on the powerplay last season. He has the skill set and tools to play that role, no doubt, but Pete DeBoer wanted to limit his minutes and the pressure put on him during his rookie season. With the Devils not having much in terms of puck moving ability on their blue line, and Larsson having a year of experience under his belt, I fully expect Larsson to play a lot more in that role this season. Whether it's first unit time or second unit time, he'll play in that role. I expect him to succeed in it, too.
Adjustments
The majority of people don't think about this, but not only was last year Larsson's first season in the NHL, but it was his first year of hockey on North American soil. While hockey is hockey whether you're playing in the NHL or the Swedish League, the style of play is a lot different here. The ice surface is different, the players are bigger and stronger, and the game is played at a faster pace. While all young players make mistakes, especially young players unfamiliar with the North American game, I expect Larsson to be a lot more confident and relaxed this year. He's played a season in North America now and he's had a summer to see the adjustments that he needs to make; now he just needs to make them. If he can do that, he'll be successful.
Here's a good example of what Larsson is capable of.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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