At least Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson won’t have to worry about spending any of his four-year, $21 million contract extension money on a personal publicist.
That’s because Swedish “iron man” Larsson, 31, found out this week that his defensive pairing partner, Vince Dunn, is perfectly capable of generating headlines on his behalf. Dunn wound up leaking the story of Larsson’s extension, which keeps him in Seattle through 2028-29, with a cryptic Monday afternoon tweet showing four cat emojis – one for each year of the deal extending beyond this current season.
Larsson, nicknamed “the Big Cat”, had just texted good buddy Dunn news of his then-secret extension. It wasn’t long before fans and media members put two and two together and figured out what Dunn was alluding to in the tweet.
“I told him – take it down,” a smirking Larsson quipped Wednesday during his first session with local media members since the deal, drawing plenty of laughs.
Larsson said Dunn “was happy” when texted the extension news. But Larsson admitted he hadn’t warned his pal to keep things quiet ahead of a planned release by the team.
“I could have (told him),” Larsson said with a chuckle. “But I didn’t think he would go to Twitter right away.”
Larsson quickly added that “It’s all good” and he looks forward to continuing to have “a lot of fun” with Dunn – who is even known to text him occasional cooking recipes – for years to come. Dunn still has three years to go on his own contract, while extending Larsson also means the Kraken have defensively locked down the critical right side of the ice with him and free agent signing Brandon Montour, 30, at least the next half-decade or so.
Right-handed shot defensemen such as Larsson and Montour are far less prevalent than their left-handed counterparts and teams often struggle finding those with top-pairing talent. But Montour, one of this summer’s prized free agents from the Florida Panthers, signed a seven-year contract in July while the Kraken will also have the third part of their right-handed trio in Will Borgen, 27, returning for his third full NHL season ahead of being eligible for unrestricted free agency.
The left side of the Kraken’s defense is already anchored by Dunn, 27, with Jamie Oleksiak, 31, under contract two more seasons and incoming prospect Ryker Evans, 22, likely around for several more.
In fact, Larsson is widely credited with helping Dunn emerge as a bona fide two-way NHL scoring threat the past two seasons. Dunn, in those two complete campaigns alongside Larsson has scored 25 goals and added 85 assists for 110 points in 140 games.
And the friendship between Larsson and Dunn almost certainly played a role in the older veteran’s decision to stay.
“We pretty much talk every day,” Larsson said.
Aside from his better statistical numbers, including a franchise-leading 567 hits all-time, Larsson is the defenseman a team allowing the ninth fewest goals last season has counted on most to shut down opponents’ top scoring lines.
He is a dependable lineup presence – missing just one game the past five years -- with a defense-first mindset but also an underrated ability to lead offensive breakouts.
“He’s more of an experience guy but he’s been the heart and soul of our organization from day one,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “Loves being in Seattle, wants to be here. Wants to be a part of what we’re building.”
Larsson had four goals and 14 assists in 81 games last season, playing 22 of those with a different defensive partner after Dunn was lost due to injury. His average ice time of 22:56 was second only to Dunn’s 23:05 but was compiled over 22 additional games – meaning Larsson again saw more ice time overall than any Kraken player for a third consecutive season.
“The minutes that he plays in the top pair with Dunn, they’re always going against the other team’s best day-in and day-out,” Francis said. “And to just watch the battles he has in the corners and in front of the net, he’s not the type of player other teams like to play against.”
Francis added that Larsson sent him “a very nice text” about the organization once the extension was finalized that the GM shared with the team’s ownership group.
Larsson has played in all but one of the Kraken’s 260 regular season and playoff games. His “iron man” streak of 343 consecutive games played – the NHL’s fourth longest active one at the time dating back to 2019 -- came to an end in April when he missed one contest against Anaheim to be with his girlfriend for the birth of their first child, a daughter, Alba.
His new contract means Larsson will likely wind up playing the majority of his career for the Kraken, something that once seemed improbable given his five prior seasons with the Edmonton Oilers – the team he had been most commonly associated with. Larsson was drafted fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and spent parts of five seasons with that club ahead of moving on to Edmonton in a June 2016 trade for Taylor Hall.
“I think for myself personally it’s been three fun years here in Seattle,” Larsson said. “Just seeing how much the city and the fans and everyone around the city loves the team, that was something I really wanted to see a lot more of. And I will now moving forward.”
He'll also see a lot more of Dunn. Especially if he has any news he wants to spread around in a hurry.
“Now we both are going to stay here for a while,” Larsson said. “We’ve been having a lot of fun together and will probably continue having a lot of fun.”
