Is he? I feel he's going to be another porous defender who is inconsistent offensively. Don't want to give up any real assets for him.
Just for comparison sake let's take a look at prominent Swedish offensive defeseman and how they compare scoring wise to Rundblad.
OEL never played above Tier 2 in the Swedish league. He made the jump straight across to the AHL then got promoted shortly afterwards to the NHL. The year after his draft he played 52 games, scoring 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points on that junior team.
Victor Hedman played for MoDO his draft year and held his own against men. He played 43 games with 7 goals, 14 assists and a plus 21. After the draft he came straight over and while not spectacular he held his own in the NHL. It took him about 3 years to find his offense but Hedman is a very good player.
Since we're talking the 2009 draft Ryan Ellis set the OHL on fire his draft year and throughout his entire Winsor career. He had 89 points in 57 games as a defenseman his draft year. 48 games played and 61 points his post draft year with an amazing 33 points in 19 playoff games on a stacked Windsor team. The AHL and NHL have been a completely different story. He's better defensively but he's also .32 points/game with Nashville this year. That's a very respectable total for a young offensive defenseman and about what I'd expect from Rundblad if he were here.
And of course if we're going to compare Rundblad to anyone it's Erik Karlsson. He got a cup of coffee with Frolunda his draft year tallying a goal in 7 games. He played 45 games the following season with 5 goals and 5 assists. Karlsson broke out his rookie year in the NHL after a dozen AHL games he got called up by Ottawa and played 60 games, 5 goals, 21 assists and a -5. His 2nd year in the league he basically doubled those totals. 75 games, 13 goals, 45 points but an eye popping -30. No one calls Karlsson sound defensively but he contributes so much offense that no one really cares.
Rundblad played 45 games his draft year with Skelleftea of the Elite league notching 10 assists. The following season was just slightly better scoring 13 points in 47 games. His 19/20 year old season he had 11 goals, 50 points in 55 games for Skelleftea. His first season in NA was a mixed bag. In the AHL 30gm 7g 9a 16pts. Then a combined 30gms 1g 6a 7pts -12 between Ottawa and Phoenix.
So not only does he go from Sweden to the AHL then the NHL but he gets traded at the deadline. That's a lot of upheaval for a 21 year old in his first season in NA.
During the lockout 50 AHL games, 9g 30a 39pts +8
He's played 12 games this year for Phoenix. Dressing in 3 consecutive games only twice so far. I don't care who you are you can't sit for 5+ games and have any kind of rhythm or confidence in yourself or that the coaching staff isn't looking for an excuse to bench you when it seems like every small mistake is magnified.
He dominated the WJC. He led all defenseman in scoring his 3rd year in the Swedish Elite League. He tore the AHL a new one during the lockout and now he's riding the pine and what he's forgotten how to play? He's never going to be Nik Lindstrom. But he doesn't have to be in order to play in the NHL and especially on this defense. Kid has immense talent and Whitney+ is more than a good gamble to make on him.