Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

New Jersey Devils: On Larsson, Keller & DeBoer

May 27, 2016, 12:36 PM ET [16 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

On Adam Larsson, Clayton Keller and Pete DeBoer:

1) Team Sweden announced their 23-man roster for the upcoming World Hockey Championships and Adam Larsson did not make the cut.




Larsson is coming off a very good season where he excelled playing big minutes against top competition on a nightly basis but I don't think this can be too much of a surprise. Sweden is absolutely loaded on defense and there are almost inarguably seven defensemen better than him.

In saying that, I do think he would have been a better option than Niklas Kronwall, for example. Kronwall has really declined in recent years and isn't nearly the player he used to be.

Hampus Lindholm and John Klingberg rank ahead of Larsson on the totem pole, in my opinion, but if the alternative was Kronwall I do think No. 5 would have been a better option.

2) Myself and a plethora of other writers recently did a mock draft over at TheBloggersTribune. I was asked to pick for the Devils at 11th overall and, when the time came, Clayton Keller was still on the board.

There's no guarantee that he is there a month from now when the draft happens for real but it's certainly a good possibility. Should that be the case I am pretty confident in saying he should be the Devils' pick. They're desperate for a dynamic offensive player and Keller has the potential to be just that.

3) I was as big of a Pete DeBoer backer as there was during his time with the Devils but he admittedly wasn't perfect. He mishandled Adam Larsson - there's no debating that - and he didn't play Cory Schneider enough after the Devils went out and traded a top-10 pick to get him.

In saying that I still think he did a very good job getting a lot out of nothing with the Devils and I will not hesitate to say he's a very good coach. Bad coaches don't make the Stanley Cup Final twice in five years, after all.

The Penguins were my Stanley Cup pick prior to the year, and prior to the playoffs, but I'd really like to see DeBoer get a ring. He's done a great job with the Sharks this season and deserves to be rewarded.

Recent Posts

Could Jiri Hudler be a fit for the Devils?

Devils, Palmieri yet to begin contract talks

Devils need to abandon traditional top-6/bottom-6 setup

Don't expect Alex Radulov to sign in New Jersey

Cory Schneider snubbed in Vezina voting

The Devils should re-sign David Schlemko
Join the Discussion: » 16 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Todd Cordell
» Thank you
» On the Chayka rumors and finalists for the Devils' GM job
» Notes on quotes from Lindy Ruff's appearance on 31 Thoughts
» The New Jersey Devils may not have hired the coach they wanted
» Notes on quotes from Ruff, Fitzgerald, and Devils ownership