Ottawa Senators sign defenseman Jacob Larsson to one-year deal

Larsson is a depth defenseman who appeared in seven games for the Senators last season when their big names went down with injury. He didn’t score any points in those games and played 12 minute of ice time per night, on the bottom pairing. He scored four goals and 17 points in 55 games for the Belleville Senators, with 51 penalty minutes and a -5 rating.

He was one of the top defenseman on the Senators’ AHL affiliate, along with Lassi Thomson, Maxence Guenette, and Dillon Heatherington. Larsson is a former first-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 NHL Draft. He was a regular NHLer during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons for the Ducks but couldn’t stick in an NHL lineup. Time has all but run out for Larsson to live up to his first-round pick expectations but he is earning a reputation as a dependable stay-at-home defenseman.

According to DobberHockey’s assessment of the 26-year-old defenseman from May 2022, “Larsson’s slide down the depth chart continues. He’s 25 now and has cleared waivers on a couple of occasions. A former first-round pick, he is running out of chances to make any kind of impact. Yes, defensemen take longer to establish themselves than forwards, but Larsson’s window is closing. His best hope now is to catch on as a No. 6 or No. 7 defensive defenseman.”

Larsson will slot into the Senators’ lineup as a top-four defenseman in the AHL and if he gets called up to play in Ottawa, he’ll be in the 6th or 7th D spot. In his NHL career, Larsson has three goals and 24 points in 172 games played between the Ducks and Senators.