Two days after admitting they tried and failed to turn up a defenceman in the Hunter Shinkaruk trade, the Canucks have found what they were looking for. Turns out they just needed to look overseas.
The Canucks announced Wednesday that they had acquired the rights to defenceman Philip Larsen from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2017. It's yet another instance of the team hoping one organization's trash turns out to be their treasures. Jim Benning is basically a dumper-diver in a three-piece suit these days.
What's the condition? According to Bob McKenzie, the pick becomes a fourth if Larsen hits certain production thresholds in Vancouver, which leaves us in the precarious position of hoping the Canucks have to give Edmonton a higher draft pick than they did.
Of course, for Larsen to thrive in Vancouver, he'll first have to agree to leave the KHL, where he's put up very good numbers with Jokerit Helsinki, via the Canucks' release:
Larsen, 26, has spent the 2015.16 season with Jokerit Helsinki of the KHL where he has accumulated 38 points (12-26-38) and 39 penalty minutes in 54 games. The 6’1”, 183-pound defenceman has also appeared in 125 career NHL games with the Dallas Stars and Edmonton, recording 31 points (8-23-31) and 42 penalty minutes.
On the international stage, Larsen has represented Denmark at the World Junior Championships (2008) and the World Championships (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014).
That's right: another Dane. The Canucks can't trade Jannik Hansen now -- they just got him a friend.
Larsen should sign. He may not have been able to stick during his first tour of the NHL, but the Canucks have demonstrated this season that you don't even have to be a very good defenceman to get a lot of minutes on their blueline. What a great situation!
Add to that Larsen's familiarity with Willie Desjardins, who was an associate coach in Dallas when he was there (proving, yet again, how involved the coaching staff is in Vancouver acquisitions these days), and it seems likely he'll be more comfortable returning to the Canucks than he was with the idea of returning to the Oilers.
According to Larsen's agent the Oilers wanted him to come back but he wasn't comfortable returning to the organization.
— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) February 25, 2016
But "returning" might be the wrong word here. The Canucks aren't banking on bringing the old Philip Larsen back. That guy wasn't very good anyway. Check out this Thomas Drance tweet:
Of the 291 NHL defenseman who've played at least 1000 EV minutes since 2010, Larsen ranks 256th in relative unblocked shot differential.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) February 25, 2016
Yikes.
The new and improved Larsen, however, looks a great deal more encouraging. His KHL numbers speak to a player who may have found his pro game in the KHL, and as he enters the prime years of his career as a 26-year-old, he's now a lot more intriguing a prospect. Back in December, Oilers blogger Jonathan Willis began arguing for the Oilers to bring him back to North America, noting that his trigger-happy powerplay quarterbacking and penchant for putting up points would be a welcome addition to Edmonton's blueline.
In his 30-game run with the Oilers, Larsen did show ability on the power play. Four defencemen spent at least an hour at five-on-four with Edmonton in 2013-14, here are their rate stats:
- Larsen: 4.3 points/hour, 13.8 shots/hour, 29.3 shot attempts/hour
- Justin Schultz: 2.3 points/hour, 7.6 shots/hour, 18.6 shot attempts/hour
- Jeff Petry: 1.9 points/hour, 6.5 shots/hour, 11.2 shot attempts/hour
- Anton Belov: 0.9 points/hour, 7.7 shots/hour, 20.6 shot attempts/hour
We’re only talking about 70 minutes of ice-time for Larsen, but he did good work in that span. He was trigger-happy, which is a rare and desirable trait among recent Oilers point options, and he picked up a bunch of points.
A defenceman who shoots the puck? Having watched every game this season, I can safely say the Canucks could use a defenceman like that too. Speed, offensive acumen, and powerplay ability? They're hurting for all three. If Larsen 2.0 can provide the sort of offensive boost Matt Bartkowski was supposed to provide, instead of turning out to be bad at producing offence and hurting the Canucks in every other aspect of the game, this could be a big win for them.
Of course, he might not be able to do that. Mark Spector, who watched Larsen in Edmonton, sure doesn't like him:
Can only wonder what #Canucks have planned for Philip Larsen. He is not an NHL player.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) February 25, 2016
Spector's talking about the old Philip Larsen, though. The new Larsen will very likely be an NHL player by next fall, when he makes his debut in the in the Canucks' lineup -- it just remains to be seen if he's a good one.
If not, at least he's a body, and the Canucks simply need more bodies on their blueline. I mean, they had to use Yannick Weber 36 times this season, and they don't even like Yannick Weber. Plus if Larsen busts a second time, all this gamble cost was a fifth, which is a marginal loss. The Canucks probably don't mind. Heck, they'd prefer it was a fourth.
