Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamingLonghorn
I don't think he has zero offensive ability. I think he was on the worst offensive team in the NHL. I'm not saying he is an offensive juggernaut, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him put up over 30 pts next season. He was +15 on a team that couldn't score.
Don't get it twisted I don't think it was a fair trade from value. I just think a lot of people really have no clue what kind of player he is. There's no reason they should, the Devils have been pretty irrelevant recently. This isn't the worst trade the Oilers could have made. Also, Larsson is at least as good as Hamonic.
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Perhaps Larsson is part of the reason the Devils offense was so bad. Or was it everyone else's fault? How is he jumping to 30 points all of a sudden? People are giving too much credit to a player continuing to grow into their mid 20's these days. Most players have shown their cards by the time they are 23/24 in the league now and there is little room for improvement. For every late bloomer like Giordano there are 100 guys that never quite took the next step.
In 275 games he's managed 69 points and he's going to put up nearly half that in one season with the Oilers? Players that average 1 shot per game for the better part of 4 seasons don't suddenly become competent offensive players. He probably is a good defenceman but he's not anywhere near being a true 1st pairing guy.
Top pairing players are difference makers in all three zones.