Berggren wouldn’t be a horrible pick, and I like his upside, but he feels more like a 2nd rounder to me. Just doesn’t have the floor that I want in a 1st, and while he has upside, it probably isn’t turning-into-the-Swedish-Danny-Briere upside.
What about the dmen? Were Samuelsson or Alexeyev around still? I feel like we would really like both of those guys. Alexeyev in particular is going to end up being a steal, I think.
I think Berggren does a lot of things that translate very well to the modern game, but (as with most smaller players) there are certainly questions about exactly how things will go as he transitions to higher leagues. I think there's a pretty good chance he goes in the first round, personally, even if I don't necessarily think the Blues would choose him themselves.
Both of those defenders were still on the board, as was Woo.
I generally shy away from those sorts of players in the first round. Every year there's one or more guys like Duncan Siemens...a big, mobile, physical shutdown defenseman with an "okay" offensive skill set (a decent shot and a "good" first pass) that gets everyone all excited about what a monster he could be if he developed offensively, while providing the comfort of a relatively high floor. Thing is, guys rarely take a massive leap forward offensively if they aren't flashing any plus skills in that area by the draft, and the upside of a 1 to 1.5 zone player really isn't that high, even if they're pretty good at what they actually do well.
Not all those players bust as hard as Siemens, of course, but I still don't think that sort of player is worth a 1st round investment when it's not overly difficult to find and develop capable bottom four defenders later in the draft, mostly because the most important two things they need to be able to do are defend and manage the puck adequately, and both those skills are fully capable of being mastered post-draft by anyone with the determination and baseline ability to do so. Even if you're incapable of drafting one, is it really that hard or expensive to fill that role via free agency? In that sense, their floor is something of an illusion as an "asset" because the role they are most likely to end up filling if they don't push past that floor simply doesn't present much value to an organization.
The toughest type of player to find outside the early rounds is a top 6 forward. In my opinion, the time to take your shot at those is with your early picks. A defenseman who is equally adept in all three zones is a high value player as well, but I'd still tend to lean towards the forward in a "tie" situation since those are generally easier to project moving forward.
