Adam Larsson Will Be A Big Part Of The Devils Rebuild
By Phil DeHaven
With the New Jersey Devils undergoing a lot of change since their 2014-2015 season ended, it’s easy for fans to get blinded by the work that’s being done. A lot of times smaller moves don’t seem that great at first, but they end up becoming a larger piece of the puzzle to solving a problem. The New Jersey Devils biggest issue is obviously their offense and GM Ray Shero has his work cut out for him in getting the pieces needed to jump-start the teams scoring. The team has a Vezina caliber goalie in Cory Schneider and a young defense full of potential for them to deal from a strength of power with.
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One of those players who is young and full of potential is 22-year-old defenseman
Adam Larsson. As you may already know,
Adam Larssonwas drafted by the Devils 4th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He just finished his 4th and without a doubt best season with the Devils and is one piece I feel cannot be moved at any cost.
Adam Larsson is a restricted free agent this off-season
and there’s no-doubt in my mind the Devils will make it a priority to re-sign him to a long-term deal.
Adam Larsson did not initially meet the high expectations that came with being drafted 4th overall by the Devils in 2011. Some might say that he still hasn’t quite met their expectations, but to those people I say be patient because he still has a lot of room to grow. With the Devils hiring of John Hynes as their Head Coach and bringing in Alain Nasreddine as one of his assistants, Adam Larsson is in good hands going forward. These are two coaches who have spent the last 5 years successfully developing prospects for the Penguins at the AHL level and one of their biggest strengths has been on defense.
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Sure Scott Stevens may no longer be a coach for the Devils, but Larsson can continue growing under the new coaching staff. Due to the fact that the Devils are in a minor rebuild, there is a common belief amongst the fans and media that they will trade a young defenseman or two to acquire more scoring forwards. I do agree with this belief, but I caution against the Devils considering including Adam Larsson in any deal. Sure he’s underperformed most of his NHL career thus far, but he’s still very young and hasn’t exactly been given a great environment to succeed in.
Adam Larsson needs to spend more time playing alongside a veteran like Andy Greene, or perhaps someone like Johnny Oduya or Francois Beauchemin. There he will continue to develop and build confidence which is exactly what started happening last season. There was a recent rumor circulated by Sportnet’s Jeff Marek while on an Edmonton radio station about the Oilers possibly trying to acquire Larsson. He believed that the Oilers could possibly use Leon Draisaitl as trade bait to acquire Adam Larsson from the Devils. While his speculation makes sense in that it provides both teams what they truly need, I feel that trading Larsson at this point would be a huge mistake for the Devils.
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With the majority of the Devils defense consisting of young players, the Devils could use another veteran defenseman to help shore up the unit. The defense was under a lot of pressure last season due to the lack of offense generated by the forwards and as a result many players struggled. To have Adam Larsson show strong signs of progress during a situation like that means a lot. Yes his value is at its highest it’s ever been, but he can develop into one of the Devils top defenseman very soon. Trading him would just put more pressure on the other young defensemen and the Devils could miss out on a great player.
The New Jersey Devils will need Adam Larsson especially during this rebuilding period. He will hold the key to determining if this defense can become one of the best in the league or just stay average. His potential emergence as a Top 2 defenseman could make everyone around him even better which would really open the doors to just how good others on this team can be. Adam Larsson may not know it yet, but the defensive aspect of the rebuild will have all eyes on him for the next few years.