Anaheim Ducks: End of Season Grades for 2020-21 Defensemen
Jacob Larsson
Raw Grade: D+
Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: C-
Jacob Larsson only just manages to sneak into this category and to be frank I really wanted to like Larsson this year. He’s one of those players who I suspect will get traded to another team and instantly become a relevant hockey player.
Unfortunately, this is only a school mark grade based on this past season. As a third-pairing defenceman on a bad team, my expectations aren’t particularly high, and I think most people should probably fall back into that school of thought. 3rd pairing defensemen and 4th line forwards simply shouldn’t be the players that people are desperately harping on to be difference makers.
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In this vein, Larsson achieved probably adequate results for the average third pairing D, and one playing in a completely underwhelming defensive structure. For the most part, he did about what he should be doing in his role. At times he showed flashes of skill and at others, he made the average traffic cone looks like a world-class Norris Trophy winner. This is the duality of third pairing defensemen.
Where he lost marks for mine was that he didn’t really seem to improve on last season’s efforts. I really wanted to see a little more from Larsson. I don’t necessarily expect him to be a physical monster or a high-end point producer. I do want him to be a little better across the board, and to carve out a niche role within the team. As it is, I’m not sure he was able to do that and for that, he lost a few marks in my books.
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All statistics are true for 5-on-5 hockey unless otherwise stated. Statistics were sourced from naturalstattrick.com.