Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Adam Larsson comes in at No. 59 on our updated 2025 list. He was not ranked on Brownlee’s original list.

The infamous Taylor Hall-Adam Larsson trade was one of the first Remember-where-you-were when-you-heard-the-news type of deals I can recall. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news in 2016?

I was walking to work that afternoon at my Dad’s shop when he texted me:

“Hall got traded.”

“What?! For who?”

“Larsson.”

Oh, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, that’s a good trade! No, apparently not. Another different Larsson was the newest Edmonton Oiler I discovered when I arrived at work and heard 630 CHED.

As a big of a moment that was, the trade doesn’t have the same gusto all these years later, especially since Larsson is long gone.

The 24-year-old (at the time) became a productive and useful defenceman for the Oilers, particularly in the 2016-17 playoffs. The next year, Taylor Hall won the Hart Trophy in 2018. However, injuries, inconsistency, and Larsson’s eventual departure, makes this trade more footnote than narrative these years later.

For as mad as many Oilers fans were that they didn’t get more for Taylor Hall, Larsson provided quality play for his five seasons in the orange and blue, and we were just as upset that he chose Seattle over Edmonton in free agency.

Larsson was a top prospect in the 2011 NHL Draft, selected fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, and Jonathan Huberdeau.

He made a quick jump to North America and played 65 games in 2011-12 and scored 18 points, but the next few seasons saw him split time between New Jersey and their AHL affiliate the Albany Devils.

His game began to click in 2014-15, sticking in the NHL for 64 games, and also providing what would be his second-highest point total in a season with 24.

Then the trade happened June 29, 2016. Like the Tristan Jarry trade from Pittsburgh, the league’s attention whiplashed in the span of an hour, as PK Subban was also dealt from Montreal to Nashville for Shea Weber, and Steven Stamkos avoided free agency and re-signed with Tampa Bay.

However, I can’t quite recall running to the radio to hear Bob Stauffer with the quite same fervour before or since.

It’s easy to forget the state of the blueline that general manager Peter Chiarelli inherited. Larsson was one of the key fixtures to jump-starting a turnaround, and for a little while, it worked.

Notable

From 2016-17 to 2020-21, Larsson was a fixture in the Oilers top-4. Paired with Oscar Klefbom when he arrived, the duo was a mix of good defending with quality offence (Klefbom never had a better season than 16-17).

Larsson provided sandpaper with the ability to lay a big hit, but direct net-front traffic as well in front of Cam Talbot. He was the team’s go-to shutdown defenceman, admired with his play without the puck more than with it.

After the signing of Andrej Sekera the year before, and deals with Kris Russell and Matt Benning before the season began, Larsson was a piece that could focus on defending first, which at times made his statistics hard to gauge.

He would also soak pucks like nobody’s business, willing and able to throw his body in front of a loose biscuit. His impact was felt best watching the games and fans were quick to forget about Hall once the Oilers made the playoffs for the first time in 11 calendar years.

“He’s been so good for us all year, playing a physical game,” Klefbom said of Larsson in April 2017. “For me as a player, (I) can just focus on my game and you know he’s going to take care of his business.”

What a playoffs Larsson had in 2017. After beating the Sharks in six games, Edmonton went up 1-0 against Anaheim in a career night for the Swedish tower, scoring twice and adding an assist, including the game-winning-goal he banked in off of Josh Manson.

Game 5 was a novel of its own. With the series tied 2-2, Andrej Sekera gets injured in the 1st period, leaving the Oilers with five defencemen. Edmonton had a three goal lead, but it’s a game best remembered for the egregious no-calls for goalie interference that allowed a Ducks comeback.

In the eventual double-overtime loss, Larsson played an astounding 44:58 of TOI, nine minutes more than the second highest in Connor McDavid, and 12 minutes more than the next defenceman in Kris Russell. Larsson was doing everything he could in a series that eventually went Anaheim’s way.

Over the next four seasons, his play didn’t quite reach those same highs. In February 2018, his 50-year-old father Robert came to Edmonton for a visit, but a sudden heart attack claimed his life, something that understandably shook Larsson up emotionally.

In 2018-19, he played all 82 games. Often believed to be playing through a back injury, the results were not the same. While he scored a high of 20 points with the Oilers, he was -28 and allowed the most goals against while at 5-on-5in the NHL. It couldn’t all be laid at his feet, the Oilers blueline was brutal, with 11 rearguards suiting up that season. (Remember Kevin Gravel playing 36 games?)

The season began on the wrong foot literally in 2019-20 after fracturing his right fibula when blocking a shot against Vancouver, but he recovered and still played 49 games.

I thought Larsson came back in 2020-21 with a renewed presence to his game, with some of the TOI pressure being taken away with Darnell Nurse, and the all-Canadian division being the game du jour in the return from COVID.

The Story

But alas, after the season was up, he was looking for a change. He was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft, and signed a four-year, $21 million pact with the Seattle Kraken. It was a blow in the short-term for the Oilers.

The truth is, over that five-year span no one played more hard minutes than Adam Larsson. His game was not sexy, but those punishing hits in the corner were met with rousing cheers. Larsson is on the Mount Rushmore of Peter Chiarelli acquisitions (although I don’t believe any rocks will be carved soon), as few players can shake off the expectations of overcoming a trade like that.

He was as honest a hockey player as you can imagine. He represents the good and bad of those teams, from the unexpected highs of the 2017 playoffs to the subsequent sequels and dismissal of Todd McLellan. But for a little while, we watched as Larsson and Klefbom looked like a top pair for many years to come. I respect the hell out of him for it.

What Brownlee said

Until we hear from Larsson, we won’t know what went into his decision to leave Edmonton for Seattle. Larsson, 28, who arrived from New Jersey in a trade for Taylor Hall, was a good honest player here. He struggled with injuries, and he also endured the death of his father, Robert, who passed away here in Edmonton at the age of 50 in February of 2018. Whether that life-altering event played into his decision to put Edmonton in the rear-view mirror and seek a change of scenery and lifestyle, I don’t know.
Whatever the reason, it was Larsson’s choice to make with UFA status pending and the Kraken having the right to talk to him. He doesn’t owe us an explanation. While his decision unquestionably pissed some Oilers’ fans off, we should take the high road, wish him well and resist the urge to take cheap shots as Larsson makes his way out of town.
That said, I get the #SummerOfRage bit. Oscar Klefbom is certain to spend next season on LTIR, so he’s not in the picture. Caleb Jones was shipped to Chicago in the deal that brought in 38-year-old Duncan Keith. Now, with Larsson gone, the Oilers’ right side blueline has a huge hole in it that will have to be filled — maybe by Barrie. Right now, it’s @Ethan Bear and @Evan Bouchard. Even if Holland can get something done with Barrie, his skillset does not include the grit and edge Larsson brings. That has to be addressed.
I thought the Oilers’ blueline had a chance to be better for next season with the addition of Keith because, even on the downside of his career, he’s a better player than Jones at this point, but I wasn’t counting on Larsson going anywhere. If Holland has a Plan B or C tucked in his jacket pocket, I can’t wait to see it — some would suggest that’s giving him too much credit. It is, after all, the #SummerOfRage.

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