Nils Erik Adam Larsson (born 12 November 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and alternate captain for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2011 NHL entry draft. The youngest player on the Skellefteå AIK squad at the time of his draft, Larsson was the first defenceman and first European-trained player to be drafted in 2011.
Larsson spent five seasons with the Devils before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2016. Before the start of the 2017–18 season, he became the first Swede in franchise history to be named an alternate captain for the Oilers. On 21 July 2021, Larsson joined the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL expansion draft. While with the Kraken, Larsson has reached numerous milestones, including playing in his 1,000th NHL game in March 2026.
Internationally, Larsson has represented Sweden at the IIHF World Championship and World Junior Championship, winning a gold medal at the 2018 IIHF World Championship and being named to the tournament's All-Star team.
Larsson was born on 12 November 1992 in Skellefteå, Sweden, to ice hockey player Robert Larsson. His father played 249 games with Skellefteå AIK from 1985 to 1995. Despite being drafted in the sixth round, 112th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings during the 1988 NHL entry draft, he never played in North America. Larsson is the middle child between his older brother Hampus and younger sister Julia.
Larsson and his wife Vera have one child together.
In the 2008–09 season, Larsson played with his older brother Hampus in the J20 SuperElit, Sweden's junior league. The 2009–10 Elitserien season turned out to be a breakthrough season for Larsson. He scored two goals in an Elitserien game against Timrå IK on 15 October 2009. By the end of the season, Larsson had tied Tomas Jonsson's record for points collected by Elitserien defencemen under age 18 with 17 points.
Larsson played a limited number of games during the 2010–11 season due to a groin injury and finished with only nine points. On 2 November 2010, Larsson fought Timrå IK forward Daniel Corso, receiving a cut eyebrow during the altercation. Larsson commented that he kept his gloves on because removing them during a fight in the Elitserien leads to an automatic one-game suspension. Although Larsson did not remove his gloves, both he and Corso were suspended for two games and received fines as a result of the fight. Larsson's play in the 2010–11 season earned him a nomination for the Elitserien Rookie of the Year award, which Mattias Ekholm would eventually win.
Leading up to the 2011 NHL entry draft, Larsson was considered a highly ranked prospect and was expected to be a first-round draft pick. He was rated by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau as the top European-based prospect available in the draft. Larsson was eventually selected in the first round, fourth overall, by the New Jersey Devils. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with no bonuses at the NHL rookie maximum of US$925,000 per year with the Devils on 15 July 2011, due to general manager Lou Lamoriello's disapproval of performance bonuses. Larsson's agent J.P. Barry said this was unusual for a top-10 draft pick. The signing had to occur before 16 July or they would be forced to pay Skelleftea $100,000 to extend the deadline. After attending the Devils' July training camp, he flew home to Sweden for a few weeks before returning to New Jersey to start working out and skating at the Prudential Center.
Larsson made his NHL debut on 8 October 2011 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Upon making his debut, Larsson became the first 18-year-old defenceman to dress for the Devils since Petr Sykora in the 1995–96 season. He also became the sixth under-20 defenceman to play for the Devils, and the first 18-year-old defenceman in the NHL since 2008. Through his first few games in the NHL, Larsson often played alongside defencemen Andy Greene or Henrik Tallinder. Shortly after his 19th birthday, Larsson scored his first career NHL goal in a 3–1 loss to the Washington Capitals on 11 November. By mid-November, Larsson had accumulated six points while playing 22:49 per game as one of the Devils' top defencemen. At the same time, he also tied a team rookie defenceman record by collecting points in five straight games between November 19 and 26. While he was originally skating on the Devils power-play unit, Pete DeBoer removed him after too many mistakes so he could focus on his overall play. In spite of this, and missing two games to attend his grandmother's funeral, Larsson led all rookie defencemen with two goals and 11 assists for 13 points. Due to his play during the first three months of the season, Larsson was selected to the NHL All-Star Rookie SuperSkills Competition on 12 January 2012, along with teammate Adam Henrique. At the time of the selection, Larsson led all rookie defencemen with 13 assists and 15 points while averaging 21:46 of ice time per game. However, he chose to pull out due to a sore wrist and was replaced by Montreal Canadiens rookie defenceman Raphael Diaz.
Through his first 48 games in the NHL, Larsson averaged 21:48 minutes per game while tallying two goals and 14 assists. However, he missed 10 games to recover from a hit by Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban on 2 February 2012. Although he missed numerous games to recover, Larsson returned to the Devils' lineup still leading all Devils defencemen in points. However, he only scored two assists through the final 16 games and he served as a healthy scratch for five of the team's last six regular season games. He finished the regular season with two goals and 16 assists through 65 games and received one fifth-place vote for the Calder Memorial Trophy. Beyond his point total, Larsson played an average of 26 seconds per game on the penalty kill, while averaging 1:38 on the power play. Despite his success during the regular season, Larsson struggled to enter the Devils' lineup in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs as he failed to make an appearance during their opening-round matchup against the Florida Panthers. He eventually made his postseason debut in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers after Ilya Kovalchuk suffered an injury. During his debut, he recorded five hits and tallied the game-tying goal in their eventual 4–1 win. Upon scoring the game-tying goal, Larsson also became the first Devils rookie defenceman to score a goal in his first playoff game. Due to his debut, Larsson remained in the Devils' lineup for Game 3 despite Kovalchuk returning. He played in four more playoff games, going pointless through all, before being replaced by Peter Harrold prior to Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.
Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Larsson was assigned to the Devils' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany Devils, to start the season. He tallied four goals and 15 assists in 33 games with Albany before the 2012–13 NHL lockout ended. When the NHL resumed play for the shortened 2012–13 season, Larsson sat out as a healthy scratch for five games before making his season debut on 31 January 2013 in place of Mark Fayne. Upon rejoining the team, Larsson was again paired with Greene and saw increased time on the Devils' penalty kill. He finished with six assists through 37 games, while also averaging 18:06 of ice time per game.
Larsson made the Devils' opening night roster prior to the start of the 2013–14 season. After suffering a lower-body injury on 23 November 2013 during a game against the San Jose Sharks, Larsson was placed on injured reserve. At the time, he had one goal and two assists through his first 20 games of the season. He did not skate for the first few weeks but began skating lightly after three weeks of rest. However, he suffered a setback while rehabbing and his knee locked up again. This resulted in a longer recovery period than originally predicted. He returned to the ice after missing 21 games and was immediately reassigned to the AHL to work on his conditioning. He remained with the Albany Devils for 32 games before being recalled to the NHL level on 31 March. At the time of his recall, he led the team in scoring among defencemen with three goals and 16 assists for 19 points. He scored one goal and two assists through 26 games with the Devils, while the team failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season. He was then one of many players reassigned to the AHL to help the Albany Devils in their 2014 Calder Cup playoffs run.