That got Larsson noticed by\u00a0NHL scouts as the Devils drafted him\u00a0and vaulted him directly to the NHL that fall\u00a0at age 18\u00a0for 69 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His first defense partner, Andy Greene, was 10 years older than Larsson but helped him work on nuances of the NHL game, much as his father had for years.\u00a0When Larsson\u2019s dad died, one of the first texts he got was from Greene offering to help in any way he could.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larsson\u00a0upon arriving in the NHL had begun\u00a0a yearslong tradition of\u00a0talking\u00a0to his father by phone after every Devils\u00a0game. Sometimes, they\u2019d discuss hockey. Other times, just life\u00a0in general.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole family is really, really close,\u201d Larsson\u2019s wife, Vera, said.\u00a0\u201cI know that when Adam moved over, he and his dad were talking\u00a0all the time,\u00a0and he was up watching all of Adam\u2019s games in the middle of the night. So, there was a special bond. But the whole family is very close.\u00a0It\u2019s the same with his brother and sister. They were close too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vera was introduced to Adam through a mutual friend shortly after\u00a0the death of Larsson\u2019s\u00a0father. She\u2019d lost her own father the prior year and they bonded through shared experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But while she was from\u00a0big-city\u00a0Stockholm,\u00a0Larsson\u2019s upbringing in\u00a0Skelleftia\u00a0some 500 miles\u00a0to the north\u00a0had\u00a0given him quite different, somewhat\u00a0stoic\u00a0characteristics Kraken fans can\u00a0likely\u00a0appreciate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say\u00a0it was\u00a0\u2018culture shock\u2019,\u201d his wife said. \u201cBut he was just very chill.\u00a0He was just like the typical Skelleftia guy with\u00a0his energy and calmness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her first impression quickly changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the nicest guy,\u201d she said. \u201cI always laugh when people say that\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0so serious because\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0like no,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0so much fun.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0so warm and you can always go to him.\u00a0He\u2019ll\u00a0always be there for you. For me, he makes me feel so prioritized\u00a0and seen and\u00a0loved\u00a0and he\u2019s so funny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe humor, in the beginning, can come off as a little dry. You know, with\u00a0the seriousness. But then,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0a goofy,\u00a0goofy\u00a0nice guy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not\u00a0goofy\u00a0enough, though,\u00a0for Larsson\u00a0to voluntarily\u00a0provide\u00a0the eventual\u00a0bowl-cut\u00a0t-shirt photo that\u00a0Beniers\u00a0so aptly popularized within the Kraken dressing room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vera said her husband hates going to a hairdresser, so, when they were staying at the Sheraton hotel in downtown\u00a0Seattle\u00a0their first Kraken season,\u00a0he \u201cforced\u201d her to cut his hair. Unfortunately,\u00a0she used\u00a0her only available cutting tool —\u00a0eyebrow nail scissors\u00a0—\u00a0to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I posted the photo on my story on\u00a0Instagram\u00a0and I think Matty\u00a0googled it,\u201d she said with a chuckle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rest is history, as is Larsson getting nail scissor haircuts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larsson found his footing with the Kraken, enough to sign\u00a0a four-year, $21 million extension with the team in summer 2024.\u00a0That came a year after\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0helped the Kraken upset the Colorado Avalanche\u00a0in the opening round of the Stanley Cup\u00a0Playoffs\u00a0and\u00a0nearly the\u00a0Dallas Stars\u00a0in a seven-game series after that.\u00a0That and a seven-game second round loss to Anaheim while playing for the Oilers in 2017\u00a0is the closest Larsson has ever been to making a conference final. The\u00a0Kraken\u2019s\u00a0unexpected run was built\u00a0largely\u00a0off\u00a0bedrock\u00a0defensive\u00a0play\u00a0led\u00a0by\u00a0Jamie Oleksiak and\u00a0Larsson, who finished 1-2 respectively in hits and blocked shots.\u00a0Three years later, Larsson is again shooting for the postseason,\u00a0aware his\u00a0Kraken stint\u00a0will soon be \u201cthe most I\u2019ve played anywhere\u201d\u00a0and the responsibility that carries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His defensive pairing with Vince Dunn since late in the Kraken\u2019s inaugural season has long been part of that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larsson\u00a0had\u00a0enjoyed a close relationship with\u00a0Swedish defensive partner Oscar\u00a0Klefbom\u00a0after being traded to\u00a0Edmonton\u00a0in summer 2016 in exchange for Taylor Hall. Oilers fans, hung up on Hall\u2019s\u00a0touted status as a future\u00a0superstar,\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0always appreciate Larsson right away. But he and Klefbom were placed on the top defensive pairing, with Oilers\u00a0coach Todd McClellan\u00a0praising Larsson for being a \u201cstabilizing factor\u201d on the blue line as the team\u00a0took off that spring on its longest playoff run in years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larsson helped shut down San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski\u00a0in the opening round as the Oilers stunned defending Stanley Cup finalist San Jose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the following season, Larsson became the first Swede in Oilers history\u00a0named an alternate captain \u2013 taking a role vacated when current Kraken teammate Jordan Eberle left for the New York Islanders.\u00a0Larsson and Klefbom remained a formidable pairing for years and\u00a0it\u2019s long been rumored the Oilers cutting ties with\u00a0the veteran\u00a0in 2020\u00a0factored into\u00a0Larsson\u2019s decision to\u00a0leave\u00a0and\u00a0sign\u00a0a free-agent deal with Seattle the following summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Larsson has let it be known he likely would have left Edmonton in any event. Memories of his father\u2019s death hung with him his final seasons there, sometimes\u00a0every hour of every day. And he\u00a0knew he had\u00a0to keep moving forward instead of being haunted by the past. The Kraken offered an escape valve with\u00a0a four-year, $16 million deal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in Dunn, he found a similar kindred spirit with the four years younger defenseman from Canada that he\u2019d had in Edmonton with countryman Klefbom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, me and Vince kind of found ourselves early in Seattle days,\u201d Larsson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of guys go from here. But\u00a0I\u2018m lucky that\u00a0we\u2019re a couple of guys standing still.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dunn said Larsson\u00a0was a defenseman he \u201clooked up to\u201d upon joining the Kraken.\u00a0A player whose defensive style was very different from his offensive-oriented game.\u00a0There were also\u00a0\u201cfamily dynamic\u201d\u00a0similarities\u00a0for Dunn, whose\u00a0parents split when he was young, leaving\u00a0his mother to care for their family.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s lost his father and he relies a lot on his mother now,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m kind of the same way, too. I\u2019ve relied on my mother for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That got Larsson noticed by\u00a0NHL scouts as the Devils drafted him\u00a0and vaulted him directly to the NHL that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-540403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}