It took longer than anyone would have liked, but Adam Larsson finally seems to be developing into the defensemen the Devils always hoped he could become.
While he's not flashy and his two points (one goal, one assist) in eight games won't wow anyone, his underlying numbers have been excellent thus far.
As a matter of fact, the Devils are only allowing 35.7 shot attempts per 60 minutes of 5 vs 5 play with Larsson on the ice, which is the lowest total in the league among defensemen.
Note: Numbers via Puckalytics.com. TM 5 v 5 shot attempts against is how many shot attempts Player Y's team allows per 60 minutes of 5 v 5 without Player Y on the ice. Despite starting the least amount of his shifts in the offensive zone among that group, Larsson has done the best job at suppressing opposing team's shot attempts.
He's been a positive possession player in seven of eight games he's played in this year, and owns a 57.1CF% (Corsi For), which ranks only behind Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin among those listed. His 57.1CF% ranks 15th among all D in the league (minimum 8GP) with the likes of Duncan Keith, Jake Muzzin, Kris Letang, Kevin Shattenkirk, Olli Maatta, among others, ahead of him.
Obviously it's only been eight games and the sample size is quite small, but the numbers certainly leave room to be optimistic.
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