Filip Johansson vs Nils Lundqvist vs Rasmus Sandin

[Castle8130]

The Wild obviously had him ranked in the 1st round.

I doubt a lot of other teams had him ranked in the first round, if any. He doesn't play at the level that a lot of other players drafted after him play at. The wild scouts are going heavily off potential with almost no consideration to the compete level he is at right now. He has a perfect frame and is a two-way defender, but I think they could have gotten him in the second round rather easily if they traded back. He is an all potential player. It's all up to the Wild development now.

 

[VictorLustig]

the guy that was not ranked in the 1st round by anyone, why you say this? please sell us.

Well the Wild have more scouting resources than Mckeen, ISS, Hockeyprospect, Button, Pronman etc. combined. They did in fact have him in the 1st round. A lot of people here have strong opinions on Johansson for some reason but it's clear they have never seen him play.

I'd rank Lundkvist first here. Johansson 2nd, mainly because I like his style of play more than Sandin. There are no big gaps between these players.

 

[Rebels57]

Sandin > Lundqvist >>> Johansson

 

[OiledUp]

With the way Johansson played the last three months of the season I think he will surprise a lot of people, skinny but good frame, good skater and I love the way he plays with his head up constantly. Higher upside than Lundkvist, better defensively than Sandin.

 

[lawrence]

Wild have more scouting resources than Mckeen, ISS, Hockeyprospect, Button, Pronman etc. combined.

I'm going to be using this quote in the future. thank you for this.

 

[Michael Farkas]

While I don't subscribe to strive-for-consensus list-making and don't feel there's really any such thing as "off the board" pick once you get past like pick 20 or whatever...the Wild are pretty unique in that keep a very low number of full-time scouts on staff, they don't do things the same way as, say, Toronto...they have at least two dozen full-time guys, maybe more than 30 even...

Not to say the Wild don't have more resources than, say, ISS - which is, meh, unfortunately - but the Wild are a team I would classify as "economic" in this sense...which is not at all meant to be a slight, they put a lot of homegrown talent in their NHL lineup certainly...

 

[TheGoldenJet]

While I don't subscribe to strive-for-consensus list-making and don't feel there's really any such thing as "off the board" pick once you get past like pick 20 or whatever...the Wild are pretty unique in that keep a very low number of full-time scouts on staff, they don't do things the same way as, say, Toronto...they have at least two dozen full-time guys, maybe more than 30 even...

Not to say the Wild don't have more resources than, say, ISS - which is, meh, unfortunately - but the Wild are a team I would classify as "economic" in this sense...which is not at all meant to be a slight, they put a lot of homegrown talent in their NHL lineup certainly...

Yes, their strategy has certainly been unique, but they’ve had some hits where people were questioning the pick on draft day. Have you seen these 3 players enough to have an opinion? I like your more recent prospect analyses that I’ve seen btw.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Unfortunately, I have not seen Johansson, so I will not comment. But I have reached out to my source for some Allsvenskan video to see what I can get...

Thanks for the kind words though, I appreciate it.

 

[Wings4Life]

Well the Wild have more scouting resources than Mckeen, ISS, Hockeyprospect, Button, Pronman etc. combined. They did in fact have him in the 1st round. A lot of people here have strong opinions on Johansson for some reason but it's clear they have never seen him play.

I think it started with that thread about the 2018 1st rounder that one team's scout had ranked in the 7th round, where people were speculating that the player was Johansson (or one of Merkley/O'Brien). And the fact that McKenzie's scouting poll list had Johansson as a late 2nd rounder. None of which are valid reasons to pass negative judgement on a player.

I'd rank Lundkvist first here. Johansson 2nd, mainly because I like his style of play more than Sandin. There are no big gaps between these players.

I liked Lundqvist for the WJC over Johansson because although both are RD's, when Boqvist was switched back to the right side it was Lundqvist that was switched to the left side, where he played well. Having the ability to seamlessly play both sides I think is big when considering a player for a bottom pairing or 7th defenceman role.

 

[Deam78]

Lundkvist
Sandin
Johansson

 

[firstemperor]

Wasn't particularly high on either of the 3 but quite comfortably if we're talking pre-draft rankings, I had:

Sandin
Lundqvist
Johansson

I had Johanson late 2nd, early 3rd. Lundqvist late 1st-mid 2nd. Sandin late 1st- early 2nd.

 

[MarAlain MongYeo]

Lundkvist is a smarter player than Sandin. No contest, hes just better.

How, in any shape or form, can we decisively say that Lunkvist is better than Sandin before any of them have played any actual games since they were drafted? Both were ranked similarly going into the draft and most ranking outlets had Sandin ranked higher.

 

[Mrb1p]

How, in any shape or form, can we decisively say that Lunkvist is better than Sandin before any of them have played any actual games since they were drafted? Both were ranked similarly going into the draft and most ranking outlets had Sandin ranked higher.

I ranked Nils 11th and Sandin 43rd. I think Lundkvist is better, plain and simple.