Devils commit Grand "Larssony"

Of all of the players that I had hoped that the New Jersey Devils would be able to draft with the fourth pick in last night's draft-Swedish defenseman, Adam Larsson was the player that I wished for most.

When the Devils won their finale' in Boston and then won the draft lottery, I wrote that Larsson was likely lost by a meaningless victory.
I never thought Larsson would fall to the fourth spot, but three teams ahead had needs at forward, which allowed certainly the best defenseman and arguably the best player available in the draft to become a Devil.
This is exactly the type of player that makes last season's off-year worth tolerating, not that I want another one like it or anything.....

Larsson looks to be the complete package for a team that has missed a true scoring defenseman since the departure of Scott Niedermayer and carries a tag of being physical and able to defend the zone more than other D-men that are strong on the offensive end.

Since Larsson is from Sweden, the natural comparison is to Detroit's great Nicklas Lidstrom and Larsson seems to have some of the same skills as the future Hall of Famer, although that is an almost unreachable standard, the comments show what a talented player the team has brought into the fold.
The 6'3 Larsson has also been favorably compared to the talented Victor Hedman of Tampa, with most grading Larsson as better offensively, more physical, and better ice vision than Hedman with Hedman having the edge in pure skating.
Lou Lamoriello was quoted as saying that Larsson would be given every opportunity to make the club for the upcoming season, although Larsson is regarded to be more likely to return to Sweden if the choice is Sweden or the Devils AHL club in Albany.

In any event, it is nice to see that one of my teams did what I had hoped for (Pirates Cole over Rendon and Cavaliers Irving over Williams) and that team being the Devils does not come as a surprise to me.
Welcome to the family, Adam Larsson and I would bet that the stay will be a long one! 

Photo Credit:Bruce Bennett-Getty Images