C Henrik Borgström - HIFK, Liiga (2016, 23rd, FLA; traded to CHI)

[ijuka]

Haha. I've only seen like 2 minutes of highlights videos by him. The Finnish jr leagues are pretty tough to watch unless you actually buy the tickets.

What some of the scouts say makes it sound like he has a pretty high ceiling, and even though he's undrafted his age is not all that different from this draft group's late birthdayers.

 

[Keke]

I'm confused.

He was joking about not seeing him playing.

Tormentor watches a lot of hockey and he doesn't comment on players who he hasn't seen playing. That's why it's great to read his scouting reports

 

[timlap]

He was joking about not seeing him playing.

Tormentor watches a lot of hockey and he doesn't comment on players who he hasn't seen playing. That's why it's great to read his scouting reports

Ahh, with my Suomalainen blood I should have picked up on his humour.

 

[JJTT]

Seems to have raised his draft stock a bit at the draft combine after not much hype all year.

Ranked # 34 by Button
Ranked # 35 by McKenzie

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Seems to have raised his draft stock a bit at the draft combine after not much hype all year.

Ranked # 34 by Button
Ranked # 35 by McKenzie

Yes he is.
Göran Stubb said last week in iltasanomat and iltalehti he isn't surprised if Borgström goes mid / late 1st round.
Most NHL scouts and NHL team loves him and there's been several NHL scouts ( North American and European) in HIFK A junior games looking for Borgström last season ( 2015-2016)

 

[LastWordArmy]

A round up of whats being said about him.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2016/06/21/henrik-borgstrom-2016-nhl-draft-honorable-mention/

 

[Finnpin]

Finland has people with Swedish names who speak Swedish who live in areas that primarily speak Swedish. That doesn't mean they aren't 100% Finnish.

Speaking of Borgström, he's my #1 steal of the draft.

And Finland has lots of people that have Swedish (sur)names but speaks only Finnish.

And this Borgström seems quite interesting pick. Who ever gets him, the fans will go WHO?

 

[Frk It]

Really liked this kid as a sleeper pick, but guess he is not much of a sleeper anymore.

 

[Finnpin]

I red that in some HIFK A-junior team homegames you could hear more english than finnish in the crowd because there were plenty of scouts watching him. Though A-junior attendances arent big anyways but still nice to read...

 

[Woodhouse]

Really liked this kid as a sleeper pick, but guess he is not much of a sleeper anymore.

...and he does, 23rd to FLA.

 

[FinPanda]

Off the board pick. It'll be interesting to follow his career.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Florida Panthers selected Henrik Borgström 23rd overall.
As a HIFK and Florida Panthers fan i'm very happy of this selection

I wish all the best and good luck for Henrik to NCAA and NHL.
Too bad he couldn't play in HIFK's FEL team he would have been one of HIFK's key players this upcoming season ( 2016-2017)

 

[Mogo]

Bizarre comment. Stubb is out to lunch with this one.

Eat crow?

 

[Tormentor]

Eat crow?

Shows what I know. =nothing.

That being said, I'm still wondering about the possibility of this being 2002 and Jesse Niinimäki all over again.

 

[hirawl]

Shows what I know. =nothing.

That being said, I'm still wondering about the possibility of this being 2002 and Jesse Niinimäki all over again.

Him taking the collage route and acknowledging that the game schedule there would allow him to better focus on training puts him as far away from Niinimäki as you can possibly get.

 

[FrolikFan67]

its huge that he's playing college hockey. let him get 2-3yrs in playing d1 at denver, maybe a year of ahl, I'm eager to see how he develops.

the panthers were really high on him. our Finnish scout did a lot of the leg work on this they said, and tallon watched him skate for over 2hrs before the draft. that scout was the one who really sold us on barkov over jones/drouin and that seemed to work out alright (and donskoi) so i trust his judgement. they said he's one of the most skilled kids in the draft. it wasnt that much of a reach, from 35 on mc's list to 23, especially when pronman said a few teams had him later in the 1st, if thats their guy just take him when you can. they still got their guy mascherin with the next pick and they had him as a first rounder. i was hoping for jones but i definitely trust them on this one, so I'm anxious to see how he does.

 

[Tormentor]

Him taking the collage route and acknowledging that the game schedule there would allow him to better focus on training puts him as far away from Niinimäki as you can possibly get.

Jason Bukala already admitted that Borgström doesn’t play the 200-foot game. That's the first similarity that Borgström has with Niinimäki.

There were countless occasions this season where Borgström stopped skating after falling behind the play. Having questionable effort level is the 2nd similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Both Niinimäki and Borgström were unproven at international stage when they were drafted in the 1st round as 2nd year eligible prospects. = 3rd commonality between these two.

Borgström is a centre forward with below average face-off ability, that's the 4th similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Niinimäki had a scrawny frame, plus a somewhat powerless stride and acceleration when he was drafted. This applies to Borgström as well.

-> You can't deny the fact that these two players resemble each other in more ways than one.

 

[Itkonen]

Jason Bukala already admitted that Borgström doesn’t play the 200-foot game. That's the first similarity that Borgström has with Niinimäki.

There were countless occasions this season where Borgström stopped skating after falling behind the play. Having questionable effort level is the 2nd similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Both Niinimäki and Borgström were unproven at international stage when they were drafted in the 1st round as 2nd year eligible prospects. = 3rd commonality between these two.

Borgström is a centre forward with below average face-off ability, that's the 4th similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Niinimäki had a scrawny frame, plus a somewhat powerless stride and acceleration when he was drafted. This applies to Borgström as well.

-> You can't deny the fact that these two players resemble each other in more ways than one.

Plus they are both white Finnish males! They're both left-handed forwards! The resemblance is uncanny! Seriously though, Niinimäki had no work ethic at all and that is basically what prevented him from becoming an NHL player. Could Borgström end up like Niinimäki? Sure, but I haven't heard anything about him having poor work ethic, and as long as that's the case, I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[hirawl]

Jason Bukala already admitted that Borgström doesn’t play the 200-foot game. That's the first similarity that Borgström has with Niinimäki.

There were countless occasions this season where Borgström stopped skating after falling behind the play. Having questionable effort level is the 2nd similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Both Niinimäki and Borgström were unproven at international stage when they were drafted in the 1st round as 2nd year eligible prospects. = 3rd commonality between these two.

Borgström is a centre forward with below average face-off ability, that's the 4th similarity that he has with Niinimäki.

Niinimäki had a scrawny frame, plus a somewhat powerless stride and acceleration when he was drafted. This applies to Borgström as well.

-> You can't deny the fact that these two players resemble each other in more ways than one.

Not denying that as it's quite obvious that they do. I was just mainly pointing out that Borgström seems to be into education and getting better by training properly. Two things you couldn't possibly link to JN.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

From what I've been reading, this kid reminds me of Jankowski.

 

[kelsier]

Found this from the Panthers section:

https://catsontheprowl.com/2016/06/28/in-the-system-henrik-borgstrom/

Had barely heard of Borgström prior to the draft. Apparently he had a huge growing spurt "9 inches (5’6″ to 6’3″) from September 2014 until the start of the 2015-16 season". Read somewhere that he was one of the most skilled players in the draft. Looked a few of those clips and his hands seem superb and he carries the puck with an ease and with confidence. Obviously skating needs a lot of work but when you grow that much in such a short time span, your legs may not feel just the same as before, ha. Anyway looks to be a promising prospect and seemed like an intelligent kid for his age at one of the interviews I saw him. Very outspoken. I have a huge respect for Tormentor's ability to judge players and hopefully this time he's wrong.

Goes without saying that this guy will be a project. Natural skill nor size cannot be taught. At first I thought he was a reach at mid to late first round but not so sure anymore. It would have been fun having seen him in the FEL last season, but obviously that wasn't an option.

 

[93LEAFS]

Found this from the Panthers section:

https://catsontheprowl.com/2016/06/28/in-the-system-henrik-borgstrom/

Had barely heard of Borgström prior to the draft. Apparently he had a huge growing spurt "9 inches (5’6″ to 6’3″) from September 2014 until the start of the 2015-16 season". Read somewhere that he was one of the most skilled players in the draft. Looked a few of those clips and his hands seem superb and he carries the puck with an ease and with confidence. Obviously skating needs a lot of work but when you grow that much in such a short time span, your legs may not feel just the same as before, ha. Anyway looks to be a promising prospect and seemed like an intelligent kid for his age at one of the interviews I saw him. Very outspoken. I have a huge respect for Tormentor's ability to judge players and hopefully this time he's wrong.

Goes without saying that this guy will be a project. Natural skill nor size cannot be taught. At first I thought he was a reach at mid to late first round but not so sure anymore. It would have been fun having seen him in the FEL last season, but obviously that wasn't an option.

A bit of a difference because he got passed over and played in a way more respected league, but this sounds like the Finnish version of Mark Jankowski. It will be intriguing to track his development. Was a reach (according to draft charts), predicted as a late riser before the draft which came true, and going the NCAA route with a long timeline expected.

 

[JJTT]

Kid has some hands

 

[1972]

Kid has some hands

That's not even that impressive

 

[Lundell4Prez]

Talk about an underrated prospect.. this kid gets no respect, but I assure you he will.