Draft Type | Round | Pick | Team |
---|---|---|---|
Projection | 1 | 20 |
A potent point generating Swede who already competes with the 20 year old class and can be a game changer. You can see how this slippery this undersized right winger can change a game with one of his Kane-like dangles that has him weaving through traffic, pulling coverage to him, and firing the puck is off his stick and breaking the game open. When a teammate has it, he uses his above-average speed to weave into open areas to receive pucks. His feet and hands and creativity are why he didn’t struggle as an under-ager at the U18 level in Sweden. Displays high end vision, anticipation and has been able to make the most of the opposition’s blown overages and errors in their positioning. He is an exceptional skater, and tremendous stickhandler with strong edgework to create looks. He possesses a good quick hard wrist shot and high end thread the needle passing skills. His success is derived from his speed and edging and how he slashes through coverage and seems to always be in a good position to do damage in the attack zone. His skating mechanics are outstanding, with a 90 degree knee bend, forward hip tilt and ankle flexes. Some think he never comes out of top gear, and looks like the guy you want with the puck in transitions and zone entries. His skating and moves and so varies and difficult to "guess" that he causes uneasiness in the opposition too commit and they tend to back off.He displays a nice toe-drag, and big time release that catches goalies unaware. He doesn’t need much time or space to change a game's outcome. And although he seems to be a fixture in the attack zone, he also does an admirably job at covering his man. He will use both his stick to attempt steals and disrupt passes. He will have to get a lot stronger to help add to his defensive game and add to his attacking prowess. And it would be great to see him add using a middle-paced gear a bit to his toolkit of deception. Still more of a playmaker than scorer as his shot lacks significant power and flex, but maybe that comes. You draft this guy and he is the guy leading rushes and entires.
—Bill Placzek—
Year | Rank |
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2021 | 18 |