Ducks Prospect Spotlight- Jacob Larsson
- Updated: December 14, 2015
For this week’s Ducks minor league report I decided to take a look at one of Anaheim’s top prospects currently playing outside North America. Jacob Larsson is another skilled defenseman in the Ducks system, and is currently playing in the Swedish Hockey League for the Frolunda Indians.
Starting with Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen already in Anaheim, along with Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour who are currently in San Diego, the Ducks have developed a strong pipeline of talented young defenders.
Anaheim’s first round pick in the 2015 draft, Jacob Larsson is next in line and already the #7 ranked Ducks prospect according to hockeysfuture.com. He’s been described as a “low key yet quietly dynamic” player with good vision and passing skills. While smooth and in control with the puck, his off the puck game could use improvement, and at 6’ 2’’ 190, he could benefit from adding a little strength as well. He won’t need to beef up immediately due to the larger ice surfaces in Europe that lead to a less physical and more technical style of play, and perhaps that is a reason why the Ducks have opted to keep him there instead of moving him to San Diego in the AHL.
Keeping Larsson in Sweden isn’t going to shield him from tough competition, though. The SHL is one of the most competitive leagues in the world, perhaps only behind the NHL and KHL in Russia. It is a fairly similar league to the AHL, but whereas the AHL is a developmental and reserve league for NHL clubs, a large number of SHL players are in their primes. Teams can play the whole season together without top players on the team getting called up to a parent club, which helps continuity on and off the ice.
While playing with the Frolunda Indians, Larsson has looked far from being overwhelmed by the tough competition and has a +12 rating despite only scoring three goals and six assists. The fact that Larsson is performing well and getting rave reviews at a young age in a difficult league is impressive. When the Ducks decide to bring Larsson to North America, perhaps next year, he might be able to handle a move directly to the NHL in terms of talent.
However, in terms of adjusting to the more physical play style, he could benefit from a stint with San Diego in the AHL. At which point the Ducks might periodically call him up to practice with the big club while the Gulls have days off, as they did with Shea Theodore last week.
Anaheim won’t have to rush Larsson, though, as they are loaded with young talent defensive with strong puck moving skills. The Ducks minor league system isn’t the deepest, but teams are always looking for talented puck moving defensemen and that is where the Ducks are very deep. Jacob Larsson simply adds to that depth.
GULLS UPDATE
Nick Ritchie was reassigned to San Diego last week, and his teammates with the Gulls must have been happy to see him return. After coming up with two big wins against division leading Ontario, the Gulls lost their next two games and gave up ten goals in those games.
Shea Theodore’s +/- has now dipped to -4, indicating he still needs to work on the defensive part of his game to become a top level two way defenseman. However, it’s worth noting that he no longer is playing in front of John Gibson, who has taken full advantage of the opportunity he was given to fill in for the injured Frederik Andersen and struggling Anton Khudobin in Anaheim.
Matt Hackett, who backed up Gibson for San Diego, also missed those two games because of a stomach bug. With Hackett healthy and Ritchie reassigned, the Gulls got back to winning ways against the San Jose Barracuda this past Saturday afternoon. San Diego won 5-0. Nick Ritchie picked up two assists and Shea Theodore got an assist of his own. Jiri Sekac, on a conditioning assignment nearing the end of his recovery from a sprained ankle, scored the fifth goal of the afternoon. Assuming his ankle holds up, he’ll be on his way to Anaheim at some point in the coming weeks.
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