Will Larsson Play On The Power Play?
7 years ago
In an article from Jim Matheson, Todd McLellan spoke
about the Hall trade, Adam Larsson, and the Oilers in general. Without getting
too much into the “that’s the price you have to pay” argument, the section about
Larsson’s role and impact is more relevant moving forward.
about the Hall trade, Adam Larsson, and the Oilers in general. Without getting
too much into the “that’s the price you have to pay” argument, the section about
Larsson’s role and impact is more relevant moving forward.
You can read Matheson’s entire article here. In my piece, I’m
only extracting the quotes about Larson’s role.
only extracting the quotes about Larson’s role.
…we needed to shore up the back end. You only have six or
seven (defencemen) in your lineup and guys like Adam eat up lots of minutes,
and they’re important to get the puck into the forwards’ hands. We felt we
couldn’t go with the same group. We had to strengthen it.
Maybe this move will take some pressure off other guys, too,
like, say, Darnell Nurse, who’s still growing as a player. He can develop in a
more normal curve than being rushed.
When you look at the New York market, he doesn’t get as much
notoriety as others do and that’s OK with us. He’ll come in and quietly do his
thing, playing 20-22 minutes a night against top-level competition every night.
Is he going to be a Kris Letang-type player who puts up 70
points? No, we don’t expect that. He can be a little bit like Vlasic and play
against the other team’s top guys consistently.
Do I think the offence is there with Adam? Yes, I do. But
for now we have to let him get comfortable first and that’s playing big
minutes, penalty-killing minutes and then we can work him into other roles.
I think this is a very sane take on Larsson, and his future
contributions to the Oilers. It’s good to know that even though fan/media
expectations might be set high for what he might contribute offensively, that the head coach isn’t showing
signs of major delusion. That is to say that even if Peter Chiarelli thinks he
got someone who can grow offensively, the club just wants him to
continue doing the things he did well in New Jersey before they expect big
steps forward.
contributions to the Oilers. It’s good to know that even though fan/media
expectations might be set high for what he might contribute offensively, that the head coach isn’t showing
signs of major delusion. That is to say that even if Peter Chiarelli thinks he
got someone who can grow offensively, the club just wants him to
continue doing the things he did well in New Jersey before they expect big
steps forward.
Something I spoke about with Reid Wilkins of 630
CHED the other day was that it seems likely that Larsson will get a
little bit of time on the second power play unit. It’s something Jim Matheson
mentions in the linked article as well. At this point it’s hard not to see how
he could avoid even a little playing time on the man-advantage.
CHED the other day was that it seems likely that Larsson will get a
little bit of time on the second power play unit. It’s something Jim Matheson
mentions in the linked article as well. At this point it’s hard not to see how
he could avoid even a little playing time on the man-advantage.
Of course, Larsson hasn’t been given a lot of playing time
at all on the power play in his career. So while we think he might get SOME
time with the Oilers, it’s somewhat concerning that his previous club (which didn’t
have great offensive defensemen either) refused to play him in 5v4 situations.
Last year Larsson played 13:53 on the PP as a total! That’s just 10 seconds per
game. It’s pretty ugly. Nurse even saw more PP TOI/G last year.
at all on the power play in his career. So while we think he might get SOME
time with the Oilers, it’s somewhat concerning that his previous club (which didn’t
have great offensive defensemen either) refused to play him in 5v4 situations.
Last year Larsson played 13:53 on the PP as a total! That’s just 10 seconds per
game. It’s pretty ugly. Nurse even saw more PP TOI/G last year.
2015-2016 00:10 PP TOI/G
2014-2015 00:19 PP TOI/G
2013-2014 00:28 PP TOI/G
2012-2013 00:09 PP TOI/G
2011-2012 01:38 PP TOI/G
Based on those numbers above, I think it’s easy to see that
the sugar time got taken away from Larsson pretty noticeably by the Devils. We
know he was getting used in a shutdown defender, but they kept him as far away
from the PP as possible. When you’re getting such miniscule amounts of time on
the PP it’s not that hard to imagine the minutes (seconds) are coming at the
end of the PP while the team is gearing down the attack. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise
us to see that Larsson has registered exactly zero points on the PP in the last
four seasons.
the sugar time got taken away from Larsson pretty noticeably by the Devils. We
know he was getting used in a shutdown defender, but they kept him as far away
from the PP as possible. When you’re getting such miniscule amounts of time on
the PP it’s not that hard to imagine the minutes (seconds) are coming at the
end of the PP while the team is gearing down the attack. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise
us to see that Larsson has registered exactly zero points on the PP in the last
four seasons.
That said, in his rookie season when he was playing regular
PP minutes he did pick up three assists. It isn’t much to go on and
definitely nothing to write home about. The overall picture is that Larsson may
not be a great choice to be on the point during the man-advantage unless he takes some big steps forward during the off-season. It simply might not be in
the cards.
PP minutes he did pick up three assists. It isn’t much to go on and
definitely nothing to write home about. The overall picture is that Larsson may
not be a great choice to be on the point during the man-advantage unless he takes some big steps forward during the off-season. It simply might not be in
the cards.
Edmonton may still be best served with Klefbom and Sekera as their top two choices and others like Davidson or Nurse may get extra minutes ahead of Larsson because the club will want him to continue soaking up the tough minutes. As easy as it is to project him into more PP minutes than he received from the Devils, it’s just as easy to see the Oilers choose to ease him into offensive minutes so expectations aren’t prematurely inflated.
It’s good for him, then, that Todd McLellan seems happy to
use Larsson as relief for his other defenders who need to be sheltered more
from the harsh minutes 5v5 and on the PK. They hope he can be a Vlasic-type defender and I would hope that Vlasic’s scoring numbers from before this season (20 point range) should be what Oiler fans are eyeing in their expectations for Larsson. We’ll save the
conversation about Larsson’s actual PK prowess for another day.
use Larsson as relief for his other defenders who need to be sheltered more
from the harsh minutes 5v5 and on the PK. They hope he can be a Vlasic-type defender and I would hope that Vlasic’s scoring numbers from before this season (20 point range) should be what Oiler fans are eyeing in their expectations for Larsson. We’ll save the
conversation about Larsson’s actual PK prowess for another day.
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