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NJDevils re-sign defenseman Adam Larsson to a six-year contract.


MrBreeze

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One of those "calculated risk" contracts that you offer for a young player you believe in. It's neither bad nor good...not today, anyway.

I'm fine with this one. Kind of ironic in a way...who really could've seen this coming a year or two ago?

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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One of those "calculated risk" contracts that you offer for a young player you believe in. It's neither bad nor good...not today, anyway.

I'm fine with this one. Kind of ironic in a way...who really could've seen this coming a year or two ago?

Exactly, before last season I would have traded him for basically anything. Now I'm excited to see him locked up long torpedo and to see what he can bring to the table.

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When was the last time we lost a RFA? We literally had 0% chance of losing him here. And didn't we do a similar deal for Henrique a few years ago? Let's not go overboard with the subtle knocks on Lou.

As others have said, it has the potential to be a great deal, but that is only the case if he continues improving. That being said, I like the deal as I think Larsson is a first pair D.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. It's a good deal, surprised it was for 6 years and not 5 but that could ultimately work into the Devils favor as well. If he continues to improve on even a reasonably conservative trajectory, this deal will be considered a steal. But it's far too early to say with any certainty that this is a homerun contract because there are clearly some significant risks associated with that length of term alone. If Larsson's development goes south for whatever reason, especially early in his contract, it's not going to be pretty. But since the Devils have tons of cap room, they probably have a little more leeway than most teams to make that kind of gamble - which is a nice luxury to have. In any event, it's clear that the Devils brass really like what they're seeing from Larsson, especially as of late. And I think that's rather nice to see.

 

p.s. An interesting question to the forum: Would Lou have given Larsson a similar contract? 

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I wholeheartedly agree. It's a good deal, surprised it was for 6 years and not 5 but that could ultimately work into the Devils favor as well. If he continues to improve on even a reasonably conservative trajectory, this deal will be considered a steal. But it's far too early to say with any certainty that this is a homerun contract because there are clearly some significant risks associated with that length of term alone. If Larsson's development goes south for whatever reason, especially early in his contract, it's not going to be pretty. But since the Devils have tons of cap room, they probably have a little more leeway than most teams to make that kind of gamble - which is a nice luxury to have. In any event, it's clear that the Devils brass really like what they're seeing from Larsson, especially as of late. And I think that's rather nice to see.

 

p.s. An interesting question to the forum: Would Lou have given Larsson a similar contract? 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. It's a good deal, surprised it was for 6 years and not 5 but that could ultimately work into the Devils favor as well. If he continues to improve on even a reasonably conservative trajectory, this deal will be considered a steal. But it's far too early to say with any certainty that this is a homerun contract because there are clearly some significant risks associated with that length of term alone. If Larsson's development goes south for whatever reason, especially early in his contract, it's not going to be pretty. But since the Devils have tons of cap room, they probably have a little more leeway than most teams to make that kind of gamble - which is a nice luxury to have. In any event, it's clear that the Devils brass really like what they're seeing from Larsson, especially as of late. And I think that's rather nice to see.

 

p.s. An interesting question to the forum: Would Lou have given Larsson a similar contract? 

 

We'll never know and it doesn't matter.

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I wonder what DeBoer thinks? Realistic signing nice job Ray.

Deboer never seemed to like Larsson's play, so in his opinion it's probably overated and too long. I like the deal a lot, Larsson has shown a lot of potential and has stepped up his game last season. I'm looking forward to next season even more and how he adjusts to a "Fast.Attacking.Supportive" style of play. Know I'd like to hear more news on Zacha's contract, I'm excited to see how his training camp will be and if he'll stay with the team for longer than 9 games (In my opinion that's unlikely, but still probable) next season.

Edited by Devs3cups
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Zajac deal was fine and he's still the best center on the team.  It just went bad, that will happen.

 

Solid deal for Larsson - if Larsson never improves from what he is now, it's a slight overpay relative to the UFA market, if he improves even a bit it's a good deal, and if Larsson becomes a legit top pairing defenseman as his performance last year suggests he will, it'll be a huge bargain.  Year 6 is what's important here - this is when the Devils hope to be good again, and certainly no one on the team now will be cheap then.

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I feel a little worried about this deal.  Sure he has played somewhat well.  But I worry about his skating honestly and the style of play Hynes wants to implement.  He did well with Stevens and his more conservative play, but with DeBoer, he was constantly in limbo.  I want him to far exceed this contract but this is definitely a risk contract.  We have plenty of leeway to take that risk, but we do have Severson, Santini, Gelinas, and Merrill that could've had that same risk that we could've differed past this contract.  I would've liked a 1 year arbitration more than this.

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I feel a little worried about this deal.  Sure he has played somewhat well.  But I worry about his skating honestly and the style of play Hynes wants to implement.  He did well with Stevens and his more conservative play, but with DeBoer, he was constantly in limbo.  I want him to far exceed this contract but this is definitely a risk contract.  We have plenty of leeway to take that risk, but we do have Severson, Santini, Gelinas, and Merrill that could've had that same risk that we could've differed past this contract.  I would've liked a 1 year arbitration more than this.

 

Worst case scenario is Larsson is a good middle pairing guy with a competent partner. At $4M thats OK, not great but this won't handicap the payroll in the future.

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I feel a little worried about this deal.  Sure he has played somewhat well.  But I worry about his skating honestly and the style of play Hynes wants to implement.  He did well with Stevens and his more conservative play, but with DeBoer, he was constantly in limbo.  I want him to far exceed this contract but this is definitely a risk contract.  We have plenty of leeway to take that risk, but we do have Severson, Santini, Gelinas, and Merrill that could've had that same risk that we could've differed past this contract.  I would've liked a 1 year arbitration more than this.

 

You can very easily trade him.  He was picked 4th overall, guys like this will always move, it's not like Larsson is totally devoid of what made him that pick, he still has excellent passing ability.  Plus he had finally figured out DeBoer's system.  1 year arbitration would have been awful.

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Zajac deal was fine and he's still the best center on the team.  It just went bad, that will happen.

You really believe that? He's still should be or can be our number 1?  I think he can rebound but it's still not going to be pretty, he's still capable of 40-60 points.

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You can very easily trade him.  He was picked 4th overall, guys like this will always move, it's not like Larsson is totally devoid of what made him that pick, he still has excellent passing ability.  Plus he had finally figured out DeBoer's system.  1 year arbitration would have been awful.

 

Like the 10th overall pick that was 25 when he got bought out by the worst team in the league this offseason in Cody Hodgson that also signed a 6 year contract just a couple years ago?  He couldn't be traded.  RFAs are good because they are controlled by one team.  It's good that they at least bought out UFA years, but they had 2 years left.  He has yet to have a solid, full season so that is why I didn't want such a long contract.  Whether it was arbitration or just a regular 1 year deal, fine.  But then next year, he could've gotten an 6-8 year deal for like 5-6 mil which I would've preferred because then it's another year of information.  "When you have time, you use it."

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That's like taking the best turd out of a Porto-potty and eating it for breakfast. Just because it's the best one doesn't mean it's any good.

 

You can make all the gross analogies you like, but this team would've been royally screwed without Zajac in 2013-14.  That deal's gone bad but I think Zajac can rebound some, and when the Devils get some better players he can be used in a role where he helps the team.  You still need players even if the team is going to be bad and Zajac, for as much as people think he's terrible, is still one of the team's best players.

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Like the 10th overall pick that was 25 when he got bought out by the worst team in the league this offseason in Cody Hodgson that also signed a 6 year contract just a couple years ago?  He couldn't be traded.  RFAs are good because they are controlled by one team.  It's good that they at least bought out UFA years, but they had 2 years left.  He has yet to have a solid, full season so that is why I didn't want such a long contract.  Whether it was arbitration or just a regular 1 year deal, fine.  But then next year, he could've gotten an 6-8 year deal for like 5-6 mil which I would've preferred because then it's another year of information.  "When you have time, you use it."

 

Cody Hodgson had already been traded and had blown his career up.  He was horrible - he was a healthy scratch on the worst team in the league.  So yeah, if you're expecting Adam Larsson to be a healthy scratch on D, great, but you do much better as a franchise when you bet on the players you believe to be good rather than constantly betting against them until you can't help but pay them.  And it's not even like that buyout is costing a lot of money - it's a minimum-ish salary wasted for 8 more years.  Unfortunate when you want to spend to the cap, but the Sabres are still going to have a hard time doing that even with all the guys they just picked up.

 

Another year of information makes a contract safer but not necessarily better.  When you have time, you use it - the Devils did use it.  The Devils had time on their side with regard to Larsson's contract rights and they took a gamble. Gambles are the only way this team is going to become great in the next 4-5 years.  Signing everyone for his actual market price means you're getting an average team.  The Devils used it with Schneider - they condemned him to a half-season's worth of starts and then signed him for starter money - and they're doing it with Larsson too.  

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You really believe that? He's still should be or can be our number 1?  I think he can rebound but it's still not going to be pretty, he's still capable of 40-60 points.

 

That's irrelevant. He IS our number 1 and when you are paying your number one center the money he's getting, it's not all that bad.

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You can make all the gross analogies you like, but this team would've been royally screwed without Zajac in 2013-14. That deal's gone bad but I think Zajac can rebound some, and when the Devils get some better players he can be used in a role where he helps the team. You still need players even if the team is going to be bad and Zajac, for as much as people think he's terrible, is still one of the team's best players.

What planet do you live on, we were royally screwed WITH him. Zajac should be a 3rd line center making like $3m per. Page deal hasn't "gone bad", it was bad from the beginning. The first year of his deal at $3.5m was the only year we'll get anywhere near what we paid for him.

The only exception would be if we had a real stud winger that would MAKE him better. But Zajac is nowhere near the "core" of our offense, as I believe Lou said at the time he was signed. Well, unfortunately, he IS the core, but he shouldn't be.

Edited by mfitz804
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What planet do you live on, we were royally screwed WITH him. Zajac should be a 3rd line center making like $3m per. Page deal hasn't "gone bad", it was bad from the beginning. The first year of his deal at $3.5m was the only year we'll get anywhere near what we paid for him.

The only exception would be if we had a real stud winger that would MAKE him better. But Zajac is nowhere near the "core" of our offense, as I believe Lou said at the time he was signed. Well, unfortunately, he IS the core, but he shouldn't be.

 

The Devils in 2013-14 were a playoff team undone by horrible shootout luck and the team's insistence on starting a bad goalie more than a good goalie.  Zajac was the top line center on that team and played a very important role.  Much as everyone now wants to pretend that you can just find players as good as Zajac on the free agent market, you can't.  The idea that Zajac should make $3M is totally ridiculous.

Edited by Triumph
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