Maybe the Caps made these trades to corner the market on "sson's".
But seriously, I'm not sure about speculation on MJ being an eventual replacement for Hagelin if his injury turns out to be a career-ender. I see MJ is apparently skating on line 1 tonight. It may be that Larsson is the replacement for Hagelin, at least for the rest of this season.
When I first heard of the Larsson acquisition I went to the player stats. wondering if he was a strong face-off man and THAT was what they were trying to address. But no, in the last few years his FO% has been in the mid-high 40's, so it isn't that. The only thing that makes any sense to me is a comment I read in one article that he is considered around the league to be a top-notch shut-down forward. I wonder if they got him to try to build a shut-down line for the playoffs to contend with some of the young superstar forwards on other teams they will see.
This strategy may be a part of a broader approach that the Caps may feel is their best chance in the playoffs. They can no longer skate with a lot of the teams they will be facing, so their best bet would seem to be playing heavy and slowing the game down. Slowing down the very best offensive players may require defensive aptitude as well as grit. I don't particularly care for it as a strategy because the Caps' goaltending is suspect, but they may think of it as their best chance. Larsson fits very well into that kind of strategy, especially if he is put on the Dowd/Hathaway line.
