Quickly. Someone should call the Erie County Sheriff's Department and demand that a squad car be sent to First Niagara Center. Sabres GM Darcy Regier should be arrested for performing Grand Larssony on Chuck Fletcher, the GM of the Minnesota Wild. Forget about the Mike Wilson for Rhett Warrener trade. This Johan Larssonous act takes the cake.
April 3. 2013: Regier pulled off his best bank heist yet when he traded with the Minnesota Wild forcenter Johan Larsson, goaltender Matt Hackett, 1st round draft pick in the 2013 draft (Nikita Zadorov) and round 2 pick in the 2014 draft to Buffalo Sabres.
The only assets that Regier had to send west were Sabres captain Jason Pominville and round 4 pick in the 2014 draft. The 30 year old Pommer was a great player in his tenye in Buffalo, however, his contributions will be dwarfed this season and beyond when Larsson, Zadorov, Hackett and the 2014 2nd rounder become NHL impact players. Larsonn and Zadorov are already there. They are playing NHL hockey right now. Larsson skated 15:44 TOI vs. the Canes. He scored 2 goals and added an assist, was +1, and took 7 shots. He was the best player on the ice for 60 minutes of play. He was equally as dominant on the defensive side of the puck an don the PK. Zadorov led the Sabres in total TOI with 22:36 . He was +1 with 3 shots and 3 hits, and a shot block. Zadorov is an 18 year kid for crying out loud! As for Hackett, he will be the starter in Rochester and if/when Ryan Miller is trade this season, he will see net time in Buffalo with Jhonas Enroth.
Regier is using the currency of his Minnesota Brinks truck hold up to re-shape his roster. In real-time. Getting Larsson and Zadorov were strokes of genius for the much maligned Regier. Getting Hackett was a stroke of brilliance.
By now, you've heard about Zadorov and Hackett. two young studs who will play in the NHL for 12-15 years. You may want to bone up on Larsson's resume because you are going tobe hearing his name for many years to come in Buffalo.
He was born on July 25 1992 in Lau, Sweden.
He's a 21 year old who plays like a 26 year old NHL veteran.
Don't let his 5'10" 200 lb. frame fool you. This guy is the real freakin deal! He's a pit bull on skates.
Thats why he was drafted by Minnesota Wild in the 2nd round ( #56 overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Larsson does everything that an NHL GM wants his centers to do: he makes like miserable for opponents in the faceoff circle. He holds onto pucks, can pass the puck with accuracy and pace, can shot from all areas on the ice with success. He back checks harder than he fore checks and he fore checks like a Sherman tank.He can score. He's easily a 30-40 point center won can win 55%-60% of his draws.
There's nothing that this guy can't do at age 21. I have him pegged to start the season in Buffalo. He'll add immediate value to the Buffalo roster by leveraging his many outstanding attributes.
On Thursday night, Larsson had his coming out party in from of 17,000+ raucous Sabres fans at First Niagara Center. He wowed the crowd by scoring 2 goals and adding an assist. He won 71% of his draws and made life a misery for the Carolina Hurricanes. Try as they might, they could not knock Larsson off the puck. Thats the way he likes it.
After the game, in the victors' locker room, Larsson gave me the secret to his success:
"Today the chances went in. You know, you get confidence when you play well. My line mates played well, too. I played with Leino and Tropp and we had some good chemistry together. Those guys are easy to play with".
Ron Rolston said afterwards that Larsson was arguably his best forward of the night. High praise when you take into account that Joel Armia, Thomas Vanek, Cody Hodgson and Tyler Ennis played well, too. and
Check out the power game.
Thanks, Sabres.com
Larsson hates losing draws because you can't play a puck-control when you are always chasing the puck down. Larsson reminds me of a typical Detroit Red Wing player. Gritty, edgy, skilled, humble. Hell, he may well be the next Henrik Zetterberg for all we know. He's that polished and that exceptional a player. His skating and strength on his edges is off the charts. Just a remarkable player.
The Sabres are ecstatic to have such a young, dynamic centerman in their midst right now.
" I tried to improve my face offs last year. I work on it every day and today it worked out. You have to be strong on your skates, its that important", he told me about his faceoff winning philosophy.
Johan Larsson is making it tough on other teams. He's a disruptor in that manner.
What were the Minnesota Wild thinking when they traded him and the 1st rounder that became Zadorov for Pominville and a 4th rounderr.
Darcy Regier should be locked up for Grand larsson.
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Youth is being served in Buffalo. The blueprint, if you will, is coming to fruition in the form of offense from the prospects.
Did you know that 7 of the 12 goals that the Sabres have scored thus far in the three exhibition games have been scored by rookies?
Tonight, Larsson lit the lamp twice and added an assist, while Armia scored his first goal in Buffalo and had an assist.
Brayden McNabb detonated a bomb and added an assist.
In Columbus, Grigorenko scored.
In Montreal, Girgensons scored two beauties.
The plan is beginning to manifest itself.
These kids are good.
3-0 with a home and home with the Leafs this weekend.
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