AT RANDOM: ADAM LARSSON

7 years ago

The thing about the eyeball test when it comes to evaluating players is it depends who the eyeballs belong to. What you see and how you see it can be swayed by many factors. Bias comes into play, such as personal preference in style of play, to name just one.

Add to that, there is considerable diversity in the way different people — fans, scouts, coaches and media types — assess a player, or a given performance by a player. That’s no surprise. What’s important to one person might not be as important to another. We see things in different ways. We come at the same player from different angles.

I had my eyeballs fixed on Adam Larsson during Saturday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place. Larsson, as everybody knows, was acquired from the New Jersey Devils for Taylor Hall. In the minds of many, myself included, the transaction was a need-for-need trade in which the Oilers overpaid. The question is, by how much? How good is Larsson?

My impression Saturday, watching Larsson paired with Oscar Klefbom, is that he performed exactly as billed. Larsson plays a sound positional game. He’s smart, efficient and decidedly unspectacular. Larsson is more steak than sizzle. He defends first. He’s not going to bring you out of your seat. On this night, I thought he looked OK.

Larsson played 22:36, including 1:47 shorthanded, and he was credited with one shot on goal, six hits, two blocked shots, three giveaways and two takeaways on the scoresheet.

WHAT SAY YOU?

In the context of what I expected, and taking into account the Oilers have yet to play their first real game against a real NHL line-up or ice the final version of their team, I didn’t think Larsson looked great. I didn’t think he looked terrible. Like I said, he was OK. I wanted to see what you thought, so I put out sort of an open-ended tweet, looking for feedback. I got plenty.

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

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Same player. Same game. There was some common ground in the responses I got, but there were some vastly different opinions on what we’d just seen from Larsson, including this one from David Staples, who gave Larsson an eight out of 10 in his game grades over at The Cult of Hockey in the Edmonton Journal.

“A great defensive defenceman kind of game from the big Swede. I’ll take 82 more just like it. Larsson constantly shut down Vancouver attacks with his good stick and body positioning. Led the team with six hits. He also moved the puck well, kicking off a few attacking sequences with defensive stops and quick passes out of the Oil’s zone. The Oilers were rarely, if ever, in trouble when he was on the ice.”

The most interesting takes for me are from Nieminen and Gare. Nieminen, a Finnish writer whose opinion and work I respect, has told me he doesn’t like the trade and probably never will. Gare, who was the head pro scout for the Oilers until 2015, obviously has his doubts about Larsson’s upside – he questions whether there’s more to Larsson than what we’ve already seen through the 274 NHL games he’s played.

My take is straightforward: I don’t think Larsson has the offensive component to go with his solid defensive resume that makes him what we like to call a true No. 1 D-man. That said, I don’t have any doubt that Edmonton’s blueline is better and deeper because of the addition of Larsson (and Kris Russell). Better, of course, does not necessarily mean good enough.

Last night was just a one-game snapshot. A quick glimpse of Larsson. It should be beyond obvious we cannot judge a player on that alone. Still, it is interesting how differently that one game is perceived by those watching it.

Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.

THE SEASON OPENER PARTY

After a long summer of arguing and waiting, the NHL season is right around the corner and that means it’s time for us to throw another party. We wanted a second take on last year’s season and decided that we would celebrate the start of the second year of Connor’s reign over Oil Country. Thanks to our friends at AMA Travel, Cornerstone Insurance, the Pint, Oodle Noodle, and United Cycle we’ve got a big night planned for you complete with raffles, swag bags, and two trips (valued at $5000 each) for two to the outdoor game in Winnipeg courtesy of AMA Travel.

Here’s what you need to know:

Where: The Pint Downtown
When: Friday, October 14th at 5pm
Why: Because we’ve got a hankerin’ for some partyin’
How: Tickets are available here

See you on October 14th!

AT RANDOM: ADAM LARSSON

WHAT SAY YOU?

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

THE SEASON OPENER PARTY

RECENTLY BY ROBIN BROWNLEE

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