The Seattle Kraken have signed unrestricted free agent defenceman, Adam Larsson, to a four-year contract worth $16 million ($4 million AAV). This contract carries him through the 2024-25 season. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was first to break the news of the Kraken’s inaugural signing.
Good work @Frank_seravalli. Larsson has signed a 4 year deal with the Kraken. $4 mil aav. https://t.co/TwIO0VWNP7
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 21, 2021
Seattle Kraken Have Signed Adam Larsson
Over his ten-year NHL career, Larsson has played for the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils. Originally drafted in the first round, fourth overall in the 2011 NHL draft by the Devils, the 28-year old has potted 25 goals and 112 assists in 603 games. Of those 137 points, all but 10 came at even strength. Larsson’s rookie season (2011-12) saw him finish 12th in Calder voting for the league’s top rookie player. He averaged 19:39 per game in 2020-21 and averages 20:42 per game across his career. He also scored four goals and 10 points in 56 games last season in Edmonton.
In the summer of 2016, the Oilers and Devils completed a blockbuster deal involving the defenceman. The Oilers acquired Larsson in exchange for elite forward Taylor Hall. At the time, Edmonton received heavy criticism for the deal, however, Larsson found a home there for four seasons. In 2020-21, Larsson’s Corsi-For sat at a meager 41.3 percent and -11.1 percent relative but this is nothing new; it has been in the negative every year since his rookie campaign.
What This Means for the Future
The Hall trade set the bar extremely high for Larsson. Unfortunately, the impact he brought to the team didn’t quite live up to what Hall brought to the table. Again, comparing his style of play to Hall remains somewhat unfair. Ultimately, Larsson provides a hard-nosed defensive style of game and can log significant time on the penalty kill. Edmonton moves on from the defender and counts its losses on the Hall trade, but can use that money elsewhere now.
Meanwhile, Larsson brings years of experience with him but doesn’t have much of a track record of success. He hopes to turn that around, and naturally so does the Seattle Kraken.
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