Sabres report cards: Johan Larsson

The season is over, and we’re going to rate every player who played more than 20 games this season on their performance the same way we were all graded back in the day – on a report card scale of A to F. We’re taking a look at everyone from Bailey to Rodrigues in our 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards.

Age: 23

Contract: RFA ($950,000)

Introduction: Johan Larsson came into the season having just signed a one-year bridge deal and looking to really establish himself as a key member of the Sabres. He was on pace for a career year by December picking up 6 goals and 5 assists in 36 games centering the third line, which was the brightest spot for Buffalo in what was starting to be a dreary winter.

Unfortunately, he dislocated his wrist getting slammed into the boards and ended up requiring elbow and wrist surgery to correct the issue, which resulted in him missing the remainder of the season.

Key Stat: Zone start percentage – 34.45%, lowest on the Sabres. This should tell you more than anything else how much coach Dan Byslma relied on Larsson especially on defensive and neutral zone faceoffs.

Thumbs Up: New General Manager Jason Botterill and Head Coach Phil Housley probably signed off on the decision to protect Larsson from the Expansion Draft, which should tell you that they see value in the player. As an RFA, he is likely to be handed another bridge deal for this upcoming season to try and show once again what he can be worth.

Thumbs Down: As his 45.93% Corsi For will show, the offensive upside is very limited with the Swede. A third line center is not necessarily where you’re going to be looking for points from, but it also represents the ceiling for Larsson on the Sabres.

Memorable Moment: Back in November, the Sabres broke Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk’s shutout streak, and then won the game on a Larsson winner against his former team.

Voting: Using the good old grade school system of A, B, C, D, F, with a grade of A representing a great season, a grade of C being the performance you expected, and F a very poor season, rate Jhan Larsson on his performance this year.

Grade Johan Larsson on his 2016-17 season.