Larsson went from having 12 takeaways in his first season of 65 games to having 17 in 37 games this year. 17 takeaways was good enough for 34th of all dmen this year too which is impressive given his games played and his TOI per game dropping by 2.5 mins to just over 18 mins a night. HUGE improvement and proof that he's on the right track. His giveaways dropped from 44 to 22 and he plays a solid game with the body by averaging over 1 hit and 1 blocked shot per game during each of his 2 NHL seasons. His offensive numbers aren't fantastic but he isn't played in offensive situations and wasn't really used that way the year he got drafted either. Larsson has more offensive potential than Hedman and even he is putting up decent numbers now because his overall skill level is starting to coincide with the stage he's at in his development. With Zid gone next year, the points will come more frequently and continue on that trend for a few years likely. Stats are far from everything but that's what people want to hear so I've summed up the few stats available mostly to prove how you can't judge a kid when he's so early in his career that we only have 102 NHL games to go off of.
Hamilton may end up being a better pick than Larsson and it's starting to look that way but just because Erik Karlsson was drafted after Doughty, Bogosian, and Pietrangelo, it doesn't mean that they are automatically busts because of the success another player has. If teams gave up too early on dmen and traded them in stupid package deals around the draft then a lot more teams would have to regret deals like trading Chara and a pick (pick turns into Spezza) for players on the backslide of their prime like Yashin or Hemsky in this case.

BTW, I'm in favour of taking a chance and pursuing Hemmer if the Devils can send Tallinder or A-Train with a low grade prospect for him.

Adam Larsson forever. I'm waiting to see if there will be cool jerseys for the Yankee Stadium game so I can get my #5 Larsson to replace my #9 Parise.

Larsson went from having 12 takeaways in his first season of 65 games to having 17 in 37 games this year. 17 takeaways was good enough for 34th of all dmen this year too which is impressive given his games played and his TOI per game dropping by 2.5 mins to just over 18 mins a night. HUGE improvement and proof that he's on the right track. His giveaways dropped from 44 to 22 and he plays a solid game with the body by averaging over 1 hit and 1 blocked shot per game during each of his 2 NHL seasons. His offensive numbers aren't fantastic but he isn't played in offensive situations and wasn't really used that way the year he got drafted either. Larsson has more offensive potential than Hedman and even he is putting up decent numbers now because his overall skill level is starting to coincide with the stage he's at in his development. With Zid gone next year, the points will come more frequently and continue on that trend for a few years likely. Stats are far from everything but that's what people want to hear so I've summed up the few stats available mostly to prove how you can't judge a kid when he's so early in his career that we only have 102 NHL games to go off of.
Hamilton may end up being a better pick than Larsson and it's starting to look that way but just because Erik Karlsson was drafted after Doughty, Bogosian, and Pietrangelo, it doesn't mean that they are automatically busts because of the success another player has. If teams gave up too early on dmen and traded them in stupid package deals around the draft then a lot more teams would have to regret deals like trading Chara and a pick (pick turns into Spezza) for players on the backslide of their prime like Yashin or Hemsky in this case.

BTW, I'm in favour of taking a chance and pursuing Hemmer if the Devils can send Tallinder or A-Train with a low grade prospect for him.
- NJD Fan

I posted a comparison of Larsson with Ekman-Larsson and Hedman in their first two seasons after the draft a few blogs ago. He was within range of both of them the first season and his drop in points this year could be very much attributed to his lack of PP time this year. Hopefully he'll get some time on the PP this year.

Vanek for #9 + ?

BTW, I'm in favour of taking a chance and pursuing Hemmer if the Devils can send Tallinder or A-Train with a low grade prospect for him.
- NJD Fan

I think the oilers consider tallinder if you throw in a middling pick/prospect.

cant afford to take on volchenkov's contract length

Vanek for #9 + ?
- jdfitz77

I'd love to get him, but Vanek's only got a year left and a pretty hefty cap hit, plus the Devils really need this pick being as they won't get a first rounder next year (unless they acquire one somehow).

I think the oilers consider tallinder if you throw in a middling pick/prospect.

cant afford to take on volchenkov's contract length
- hugefemale dog77

I figured he made more sense for them anyways as hockey deal and cap-wise. Devils don't really have picks to trade unless it was a swap of 39th overall for 56th overall. That could work given the depth of the draft or just go with a prospect like Scarlett. I wouldn't give a penny more though.

He's being facetious.
- rmdevil313

No I'm not. Kid's the next Mike Mottau.

plus if my memory serves me, adam Larsson was drafted as an OFFENSIVE defenseman. in 102 games played over 1 1/2 season he was a whole 2 goals and 22 assists. plus if urbom,merrill,gelians,etc. are NHL caliber defenseman moving Larsson for a top 6 forward is exactly what the devils need. Now I have a question why do you love Larsson so much, everybody seems to want to trade a young defenseman why not Larsson?
- devfan30

Larsson was never drafted as an offensive defenseman. He was suppose to be a very solid stay at home defenseman without much of an offensive upside. Supposedly a better version of Klefbom.

I've been away for so long, and this is the blog I pick to come back to?! An Isles/Oiler/BashLarsson fest?

I figured he made more sense for them anyways as hockey deal and cap-wise. Devils don't really have picks to trade unless it was a swap of 39th overall for 56th overall. That could work given the depth of the draft or just go with a prospect like Scarlett. I wouldn't give a penny more though.
- NJD Fan

hemsky and 56th

for

tallinder, 39th and scarlett

No I'm not. Kid's the next Mike Mottau.
- MrToast

Whoa now fella. There's a reason we didn't retire #27 until after Mottau left

I'd love to get him, but Vanek's only got a year left and a pretty hefty cap hit, plus the Devils really need this pick being as they won't get a first rounder next year (unless they acquire one somehow).
- MannySilvers

I'm sure we'd take on part of his salary/cap# for u...
If he works out an extension as part of the trade, that might work nicely for u guys?
Gotta replace the offense that you've lost w Parise & (i'm assuming) Clarkson somehow

hemsky and 56th

for

tallinder, 39th and scarlett
- hugefemale dog77

I'd do it.

I'm sure we'd take on part of his salary/cap# for u...
If he works out an extension as part of the trade, that might work nicely for u guys?
Gotta replace the offense that you've lost w Parise & (i'm assuming) Clarkson somehow
- jdfitz77

If there was a lengthy extension as part of it I'd consider depending on the salary for that contract. Losing the pick would stink but getting a player like Vanek would be huge for the Devils.

I'm sure we'd take on part of his salary/cap# for u...
If he works out an extension as part of the trade, that might work nicely for u guys?
Gotta replace the offense that you've lost w Parise & (i'm assuming) Clarkson somehow
- jdfitz77

Sign and trade for a 3+ year deal and I'm in on that trade no doubt. Always was a fan of Vanek.

I'd do it.
- rmdevil313

cool. ill call mact, u get in touch with lou and we'll finalize the details.


whoever gets hemsky and is able to put him in the right situation to succeed is gonna be extremely happy they made the deal imo.
because of past injuries, redundancy due to eberle and yaks, and overall perception, we're going to lose any deal we make for hemsky.
we'll most certainly be giving away the best player in whichever deal we make for him by a wide margin.

I'd do it.
- rmdevil313

I don't know, Scarlett looks like he has some decent upside

cool. ill call mact, u get in touch with lou and we'll finalize the details.


whoever gets hemsky and is able to put him in the right situation to succeed is gonna be extremely happy they made the deal imo.
because of past injuries, redundancy due to eberle and yaks, and overall perception, we're going to lose any deal we make for hemsky.
we'll most certainly be giving away the best player in whichever deal we make for him by a wide margin.
- hugefemale dog77

My reservations about hemsky is that he's a RW, and we really need someone to play opposite Kovy most importantly. But it seems like we could get some good value from Hemsky, and we can't really be picky about how we address our scoring depth at this point.

I don't know, Scarlett looks like he has some decent upside
- bobert836

Yeah, but we have tons of other options and we offload tallinder to make room for either Gelinas, Urbom, or Merrill to make the team.

I don't know, Scarlett looks like he has some decent upside
- bobert836

He does but he's skinny and behind Severson, Gelinas, and Merrill in the depth charts for skill and potential in an offensive dman role. I would wait to do the deal and see if there weren't any crazy steals left at 39 like Petan or Lehkonen because I'm thinking there has to be a few compelling guys that fall a bit. I'd be far more inclined to do the deal without the swap of picks but I'd consider either if it actually allowed for some of these quality young dmen to get playing time and not make the whole topic moot.

Yeah, but we have tons of other options and we offload tallinder to make room for either Gelinas, Urbom, or Merrill to make the team.
- rmdevil313

I mean if if we weren't to keep him, we could probably get more value for him

hemsky and 56th

for

tallinder, 39th and scarlett
- hugefemale dog77

Not a chance on your life

Not a chance on your life
- Ihatebrianburke

yeah i don't like it too. i would add more value pieces to hemsky if need be to get one of urbom, gelinas, or merrill. i'd prefer gelinas.

Not a chance on your life
- Ihatebrianburke

We might get nothing for him. Forget ur bias or what u think he should be worth. Perception is everything, and we're gonna lose any deal we make for him.
We're taking salary back guaranteed.