He shares deficiencies many teenagers do. You are not drafting a completed player and most of his issues are coachable. Fantilli often is lost defensively at the pro level and I dont think anyone thought twice about taking him
sure, but fantilli has elite elements that lindstrom doesn't (hands, skating) and was a strong defensive player in college.
lindstrom struggles defensively in junior and can simply steamroll his opponents since he's so much bigger/stronger than teenagers. that gets neutralized in the NHL. he's going to have a steep learning curve.
he's a talented kid, no doubt, but i'm not sold on him as a game-breaker. i think he ends up on the wing and, if all breaks right, becomes a chris kreider type. which is good! but, if they want a forward, i'd rather shoot for a sebastian aho type – someone who is smaller but plays a highly detailed, competitive game and differentiates with hockey IQ.
to me, that's helenius or catton.
*obligatory "I'm no scout" caveat here*
I'm in agreement with the couple of posters who say Helenius is intriguing. The other guy I find interesting, and it would be considered a reach absent a trade-down, is Tij Iginla.
It's going to be hard to pass on Levshunov if he's there.
if levshunov or demidov make it to #4 the new GM should sprint to the podium to take them imo.
otherwise, i think the move is to trade down with ottawa (7) or calgary (9). both have additional firsts this year, and there are some guys in the later half of the first round who have the traits folks like in lindstrom.
my dream outcome is trading with one of them, moving back a few spots, getting one of helenius/catton in the top 10, then picking a guy like egor surin, sacha boisvert or michael hage in the late first.
