This escalated quickly.

The anti-Larsson camp is retarded.

When the Devils were in the playoff hunt last yr, Merrill and Gelinas were in the lineup and Larsson was not. Salvador was hurt and obviously Tallinder was not on the team. That says something.

Larsson has played 128 NHL and 192 total (NHL and AHL) games and at some point he has to earn his playing time.

He is still young and players develop at different stages, but at this point I don't see him as anything more than a 4-6 D Man. I hope I am wrong.
- ChuckNJ

Salvador always got playing time when we were in the playoff hunt and not hurt. That says all you need to know about Pete's roster decisions.

He's a good ole 'merican boy.
- MannySilvers

My thoughts exactly.

The anti-Larsson camp is retarded.
- MrToast

This x10000000000

Salvador always got playing time when we were in the playoff hunt and not hurt. That says all you need to know about Pete's roster decisions.
- rmdevil313

Yep, I actually wrote a comment, but I accidently deleted it regarding this same topic. Salvador missed the middle of Feb and the end of March, Volchenkov miss all of Feb, but both played when healthy. And we all remember PDB benching Gelinas even when he made our PP and team better. And Merrill and Gelinas made the same mistakes that ChuckNJ was saying about Larsson, being beat wide, giveaways and +/-. I think his beer goggles might of changed his perceptive on Larsson when he plays.

I remember Lou and Pete saying they wanted him to focus on his defensive game first. And if you look at it, Larsson didn't have big offensive numbers in Sweden and Merrill didn't have big number in Michigan either, so they are similar players.
- Devils9503

That was because they thought that they put to much on his plate in his first season and didn't want him to become a one trick offensive pony.

Both Larsson and Merrill have shown flashes of offense, both have had decent numbers while playing down in Albany, taking into account that that team is pretty bad offensively, and Larsson did pretty well for himself his first year in Sweden after which during his second year he was played in almost all defensive situations because he was playing behind the offensive dynamo(at the time) of David Rundblad, and Merrill's numbers at Michigan his first year were pretty good after which he was seemingly suspended or injured the rest of the time

Connolly + Purcell + a pick for him (Rangers' 1st?). What do you think?

Connolly + Purcell + a pick for him (Rangers' 1st?). What do you think?
- OzBolts

I'd do it.

Edit: Actually, maybe not. I don't know if Connelly would be the prospect I'd like back but not a bad trade.

Connolly + Purcell + a pick for him (Rangers' 1st?). What do you think?
- OzBolts

Maybs. Would have to read more on Connolly's status. What's going on with him, has he just not been able to crack the lineup or are they doing it by choice?

Connolly + Purcell + a pick for him (Rangers' 1st?). What do you think?
- OzBolts

No thanks. I still want to package a D for JVR.

No thanks. I still want to package a D for JVR.
- MartysBetter88

Just curious, what D would you send out? I know you are a pretty big larsson fan.

Just curious, what D would you send out? I know you are a pretty big larsson fan.
- rmdevil313

Drouin.

Honestly. there is little else that they could offer that would be enticing enough to throw away three years of development.

Not for nothing, Drouin was in Juniors this year for a lot of the same reasons Larsson has seen little NHL time over the last 2 seasons.

It's got nothing to do with talent and skill level.

It's about growing into your body, understanding the speed of the NHL game, and becoming comfortable and confident with that speed. At that point talent takes over.

and everyone else looks like an idiot.

Just curious, what D would you send out? I know you are a pretty big larsson fan.
- rmdevil313

sigh. It's a very tough call. I think in a package we'd have to give the least in addition to Larsson, because I think he has the most value of our D. That's such a horrible sentence structure.. but I'm tired. Larsson and Merrill have the most value, but something about being 4th overall, and that Finals run, has to have some weight.

The D I wouldn't mind losing the most out of our big 5 (Larsson, Merrill, Gelinas, Severson, Santini), is actually Gelinas. Hooray for his cannon. Idk what kind of goals Severson is scoring, but he's scoring a lot of them so his shot can't be much worse than Gelinas'. Idk what his D game is like, but again it can't be much worse than Gelinas.. both now and in the future. just a guess.

Merrill looks very steady, but nothing exciting.. but steady is good. I have the most anxiety with Larsson, that Pete's messed with his confidence and we may never consistently see the occasional brilliance of our 4th overall pick. Without being able to predict the future, I feel that Merrill is the safer keep, and that we'd have to give less in addition to Larsson.. than if we were putting together a package with any other D.

It's easy to hyper-focus on any of these 5 and be apprehensive to trade any of them, because they honestly do have top pair, or more realistically top 4 potential. BUT, the return is very good: top line 26 year old JVR with a 4.25 cap hit for the next 4 years. That's enticing. "Oh but one of these D could be the future for the next 10 years!" who's to say we can't re-sign JVR when he's 30? And who's to say we someday aren't able to re-sign whatever D man one wouldn't want to trade for JVR?

I'm really excited about the future of our D. The big 5, are ALL 6'2-6'4, 205-210lbs, ages 19-23! All but Santini are 2-way dmen, and Santini is supposed to be very mobile for a stay at home dman. Gelinas and Severson can score, even Larsson has offensive abilities.. Merrill too. Very very exciting.

Then there's Hegelson and Scarlet!
Scarlet is 6'1 but just 180, 21 years old, just had back to back 49 point seasons, -14 in 2012, +14 last year.
Hegelson is 6'5, 220lbs, 23, and is a stay at home defenseman.

I'd rather trade one of these 2.. I mean who knows, Scarlet could be the next Rafalski lol

If everyone pans out, these pairs look tasty.

Merrill-Severson
Gelinas-Larsson
Santini-Scarlett

I mean what else more could we need? Yes I'm being optimistic, but it's not an outlandish reality. Merrill was this solid in his FIRST NHL season... playing with ZIDLICKY! From everything I hear about Severson, he could really be a special player. Gelinas-Larsson has already worked, and why not keep it working. Then you have strong shutdown dman paired with mobile puck mover.
obviously Lou will sign vets along the way.. probably, or just keep Greene and Fayne in the mix. Santini-Greene would be nice. Merrill-Greene. Anyone and Greene.

we're going to be so much better without Salvador and Vochenkov. I think after this season, Zidlicky goes and Severson gets put in.. unless Zid has another 40 point season with decent D. Greene will be re-signed (he'll be 32). Then whenever Fayne's contract is up (maybe by 2017?), Santini can take his spot at age 22.

2015 could be
Greene-Fayne
Gelinas-Larsson
Merrill-Severson

lots of kids. Merrill should be ready.. there's no reason besides Pete's moronic decisions that Larsson won't be ready either. He was ready last year. such a joke.

Drouin.

Honestly. there is little else that they could offer that would be enticing enough to throw away three years of development.

Not for nothing, Drouin was in Juniors this year for a lot of the same reasons Larsson has seen little NHL time over the last 2 seasons.

It's got nothing to do with talent and skill level.

It's about growing into your body, understanding the speed of the NHL game, and becoming comfortable and confident with that speed. At that point talent takes over.

and everyone else looks like an idiot.
- njdevils350

We would never land drouin with larsson. Drouin is essentially off limits.

Just curious, what D would you send out? I know you are a pretty big larsson fan.
- rmdevil313

I should've stuck with a 1 word answer. I'd want to send Gelinas, but we may have to send Larsson to avoid giving up more *valuable* assets.

I should've stuck with a 1 word answer. I'd want to send Gelinas, but we may have to send Larsson to avoid giving up more *valuable* assets.
- MartysBetter88

No worries, its a complex situation. I agree about larsson, he'll most likely get back the best return and that's why I'd send him too. Its tough to say who's going to be better between him and merrill, and Gelinas, even if his defensive game doesn't develop, can bring something no other dman brings and be a top offensive dman. Its tough to let go of one of our few top picks like that but if it lands us a good forward, hard to say no.

I should've stuck with a 1 word answer. I'd want to send Gelinas, but we may have to send Larsson to avoid giving up more *valuable* assets.
- MartysBetter88

We would never land drouin with larsson. Drouin is essentially off limits.
- rmdevil313

Why isn't Larsson off limits?

- shvingter88