The Focus Of Adam Larsson

The trade happened. It’s a done deal. It’s been looked at from every possible angle by every possible person in the hockey world.

Now that the dust has settled and both Taylor Hall and Adam Larsson have suited up for their new teams, we can start to see the actual results of these two players rather than just the speculation.

This is not an article to analyze who won the deal, this is an article to bring attention to something that can’t be measured in numbers. The focus of Adam Larsson.

FOCUS ON THE PATH TO HERE

Imagine you’ve spent the first five seasons of your NHL career developing in a franchise that doesn’t have the greatest fan fare.

You played your first full season as an 18-year-old coming from overseas and you had to learn the North American game in the best league in the world.

That best league in world locks its players out so you have to go down to the developmental league. After the league agrees upon a shortened season, you find out you’re staying in the minors instead of returning to the NHL.

You spend the next two seasons growing as a player on a team that gets little to no media hype aside from where Martin Brodeur is going to play next, and you slowly but surely develop into a strong defensive defenseman and eventually get paired up with the team captain to form a strong pairing that will take on the best players in the game.

Then you sign a huge six-year contract and become an even better player the next year on a team that has troubles scoring.

Then you’re traded to one of the most watched and analyzed teams in a strong hockey market in exchange for the team’s top player over the last five years.

How do you deal with that?

FOCUS ON YOUR GAME

Adam Larsson will forever be referred to as “the guy who we traded Hall for” to the Eastern media and outsiders, but to Oiler fans so far this season, we refer to him as “the best defenseman on our club.”

Larsson’s performance through the first six games of the NHL season with the Oilers have seen more good than bad. Playing top-pairing minutes with fellow swede Oscar Klefbom, Larsson has been calm, cool, collective, and a steady presence on the back end.

When Peter Chiarelli acquired Adam Larsson he was adamant that Larsson was “a terrific defender” and he said those words with pure confidence on his face. Larsson wins battles along the boards, he maintains good positioning, he takes the body, and he can stop sure scoring chances without taking a penalty.

One of the best examples to look at his defensive skills was during the 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes don’t have much for offensive threats but Jeff Skinner would be considered the most dangerous player. Skinner had a clear breakaway with Larsson trailing behind him. Without taking a penalty or risking a penalty shot against, Larsson got his stick positioned under Skinner’s stick and poked the puck away from the Canes’ superstar.

One of the more impressive things about Adam Larsson’s game so far is that he can actually make quick and solid passing plays in the defensive zone. When Larsson wins a battle along the boards, he always seems to know what his next play is going to be. That part of his game was not advertised and has been a pleasant surprise.

FOCUS ON THE TEAM RESULTS

Adam Larsson is not Taylor Hall, and that’s okay. The Oilers overpaid to get Adam Larsson but Larsson’s stability on the back end has the Oilers sitting on top of the NHL standings through six games with a sparkling 5-1-0 record.

Peter Chiarelli knew the team wasn’t going to improve doing the same old same old, so he went out and acquired what the team was lacking, and the most important thing was a stable defensive group. Larsson and Russell solidified the defensive group and the team has been better because of that.

Yes it’s early, yes it could still go down as one of the worst one for one trades in history, but the team is winning and Larsson is a vital part of it.

To come into a pressure cooker situation on a new team after being traded in exchange for a fan favourite in a deal everybody believes your new team lost and still succeed says a lot about character.

The focus is not on Larsson anymore, the focus of Larsson is what he’s been able to accomplish with all that baggage.