Adam Larsson: Defensive stalwart

Adam Larsson was drafted fourth overall in 2011. He played 65 games with the Devils as an 18-year-old rookie in 2011/2012. He then split the next two season between the AHL (66 games) and the NHL (63 games), before becoming an NHL regular again the past two seasons.

The Oilers acquired him this summer in exchange for Taylor Hall. General Manager Peter Chiarelli made the deal because he felt the Oilers needed a legitimate right-shot defender. Larsson is a proven defender. He’s played tough minutes the past two seasons and done well. He arrived in Edmonton in late August to find a place, get comfortable with the city and to get acquainted with his new teammates.

I sat down with Larsson earlier this week to find out a little more about him.

**My thoughts are in italics.**

The past two seasons Larsson has played almost exclusively with Andy Greene at EV. He played 1943 EV minutes with Greene. Jon Merrill was his second most common partner and they only played 136 minutes together.

Adam Larsson: A lot I would say. Having him, such a calm demeanor back there and he’s such a good skater and for me he’s probably one of the most underrated guys in this league. People maybe don’t notice him because he never does anything wrong, but he helped me a lot and he taught me a lot. Mainly about the need to be patient, while also being aggressive in your own end. It was just a great experience for me playing with him and my time in Jersey was good, and now I’m on a new chapter in life and I’m very excited about that.

Larsson: I think that that is the charm with the pre-season. You’re going to see mistakes from me and from Oscar as well. It will take some time to find the chemistry together, but pre-season is eight games so once the season starts and you have those games under your belt you can’t have excuses there. You’re going to go out and it’s all business after these eight games, and you have to be as prepared as you can as a pair, as a team, and as an organization when the season starts.

Larsson: Probably my defensive side. I mean I’m a big guy so I try to use that as much as I can. I try to play with my stick and play body on body and I think that’s my strength. And, in my opinion, I’m pretty good with the puck too. So hopefully that’s my next step. I want to improve and get better there (offensively) and build on last year. I feel very confident going into this season.

Larsson: No, I wouldn’t say that. It was more that I got more comfortable, I got more trust from the coaches, I could tell the coaches trusted me and then you just build on that. You go more forward. I mean it’s hard to really point out what it is, but maybe you shoot more, maybe you don’t look for opportunity (to pass) as much. I don’t know what it was, but I kind of just kept it rolling.

Larsson: It’s going to be fun obviously, he’s a Swedish guy and we know each other from the past and we were good buddies before I even came here. He was one of the first guys I called as soon as I heard there was a trade. Playing with him, he’s such a big guy and a smooth skater for being that big, so that kind of helps if you’re going to play against their top lines and stuff. Now I don’t know if that’s going to happen right away, it is up to the coaches, but you have to have confidence in each other. Both of us can’t really go (jump up in play), so we have to have really good communication. I think developing that communication and understanding what each other likes to do in situations, that is the biggest key for us; especially in the start.

Larsson: No (laughs), it’s too hard to switch when one guy comes on and you have to talk English and then Oscar comes and you’ve got to talk Swedish, it’s too hard to switch back and forth all of the time so I don’t start speaking Swedish with Canadian guys (laughs).

Larsson: (Laughs) I think it’s better if we stick with English on that one.

Larsson: I mean this is like… better than everything in the league I would say. If you just look around the locker room and the concourses and stuff, it’s the nicest rink in the league for sure. I mean we had a nice arena in Jersey too, but as a player you don’t get to see the concourses and stuff up there, but what we can see down low and up in the stands it looks unbelievable and it’s going to be very fun to go out there.

Larsson: No, I had five in Jersey, I thought the closest number to five was six. I don’t have any specific [reason] why I chose six, no. I’m not a big number guy.

Larsson: Yeah it’s exciting, but we have to do this as a team. It’s not just me and Oscar and Connor or anyone, it’s everyone that has to put this together I think collectively we can take steps. We’re young in defense too and even with [Darnell] Nurse and [Brandon] Davidson it’s going to be a fun road for us all if we do it right. I think that it’s going in the right direction, but we have to prove it on the ice.

Larsson: Well I think everybody knows Connor and I think Nuge is such a smart player, and Draisaitl, for being such a young guy, seems very mature for his age too. You can tell on the ice they’re calm and they’re smart and I think that will be very important for our team. We need to play smart and fast, but be calm.

His last line about staying calm was what he felt Greene taught him the most. As a young player you want to go, go, go but Greene taught him you have to be aggressive while staying calm. It is as difficult as it sounds he laughed, especially in a game that moves so quickly.

Larsson came to Edmonton early because he wanted to get comfortable off the ice. He believes being comfortable in your surroundings will improve his chances of success.

It was my first real conversation with him, and I came away with the impression he is really looking forward to the challenge of being a defensive catalyst. He knows there will be expectations because of who he was traded for, but he can’t let it impact his game. He said the strengths of his game equal him not being noticed.

Of course, he wants to produce more offensively, but his biggest impact will be in lowering the Oilers goals against. He is excited and ready for the challenge.

Much of the Oilers success will hinge on the play of Larsson and Klefbom. If they become a reliable pairing, who excel playing against the best opposition, then the Oilers will have a decent chance at improving and pushing for the playoffs in March and April.