The Winter Soldier
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This is what I was thinking. He will be better than Muzzin when he is fully developed. The rest is just gravy for the Kings.
LD Tobias Björnfot - Djurgårdens IF, SWE JRs (2019, 22nd, LAK)
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Zaddy
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It was always funny to me during this past season that Byram was getting so much hype while Björnfot wasn't even ranked in the 1st round by some scouts and members of the media. To me they were never really that different as prospects, only one was playing in CHL and another in SuperElit. Obviously Byram has a better offensive game and higher ceiling when it comes to production output in the NHL but I like Björnfot's overall game better and his defensive game is miles better than Byram's currently. It's crazy that in this day and age, euro prospects (and especially Swedish and Finnish ones) still get underrated. Heinola is another prime example of that. I never understood why he wasn't rated higher and thought it was asinine that some had him in the 2nd round, even moreso than Björnfot. Just boggles my mind how this continues to happen.
Tobias Bjornfot was actually a top 10 and in some rankings a top 5 players predraft year but when he "stalled" offensively they assumed he had peaked.. Scouts get it wrong often just like last season with Rasmus Kupari but as a Kings fan, well i'll take it lol..
Too often people focus on flash and assume its the same as potential but you can also throw in maturity, all-around, poise.. and to your point Flash is NA players while maturity is used for everyone else
Mats26
Vet Movement - What's the Maatta?
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Pre-draft Björnfot was ranked 7th best euro prospect, Heinola 4th. So it's not like they were not ranked high. Scouts sometimes see more NA games and like the NA players better. We are lucky the Kings euro scouts have been good recently but Byram should of went as the first D off the board, let's not get crazy here.
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His pre-draft season aka the year before, he was actually ranked as a top 10 overall prospect in the class not just 7th as a European skater
Zaddy
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Zaddy
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They were both underrated pretty much the entire year, but that's often the case with euro prospects who don't put on a show in international tournaments. Like you saw with Broberg and Podkolzin were both able to maintain their hype from the Hlinka and onwards and was always talked about completely differently than Björnfot and Heinola.
But yeah, both independent scouting services as well as a good deal of NHL teams seem understaffed when it comes to european scouting. I could be wrong but I think there are some teams which only have one scout in all of Sweden and Finland and that's just nowhere near enough to be able to get complete or even close to complete coverage of the prospects in those areas.
And then don't get me even started on the NA-based media guys who put out lists, they have very little credibility when it comes to assessing european talent yet feel comfortable making sweeping declarations about draft classes' and its prospects and especially hyping NA talent up when there may be equally great talent on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean but they just don't pay attention. Or they end up overhyping certain european prospects just based off a five-game tournament and keeping them high on their lists even if they haven't performed all that well in league play.
I’ll look for it and post it.. there was also an article recently about Bjornfot that specifically mentioned his ranking and his fall because of his questionable offensive upside
The Winter Soldier
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Frolov 6'3
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I think his offensive upside might indeed be around the 7G-30Points range at his highest.
I might agree with that if not for the fact that seeing him live(TV) gave me the opportunity to get a glimpse of his vison, his ability to drive the offense and his passing...
The kid also has a great shot and would be a good PPQB. I agree he will likely be a sub 10g guy, his assist totals could be much higher than we expect.
Frolov 6'3
Unregistered User
Yes but if his defense is top notch, LA fans should take it.
Defensemen need to defend.
Honestly, i'm not worried about the defensive game of ethier Bjornfot or Anderson. I always wondered how their offensive insticts would translate to teh NHL and i am happy to say we have two legit top 4 defensive prospects.. Regardless opf what happens this season, next year we will finally see the fruits of our recent drafting.
KingsHockey24
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Probably one of a very select few rookies from this past draft making the NHL out of the pre-season.
He's a stud.
He's a stud.
LAKings88
First round fodder
Glad to see him do so well but he’ll be back in Sweden after a handful of games if not sooner. LA doesn’t need to burn a year on him this season.
LAKings88
First round fodder
Frolov 6'3
Unregistered User
Huh? Nobody knows what LA is gonna do.
LA didnt need to burn a year of Doughty’s entry level contract either, but it happened.
LAKings88
First round fodder
True, I’d be surprised tho. I hope he does stay.
KingsHockey24
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Unless Toronto wins a Cup with Muzzin around it's looking more and more obvious that LA won that trade.
If he can impact and contribute in the NHL this year, that experience and doing it over a full season is probably more valuable in it's development for him than sending him down to not burn an ELC year.....I mean if he's good enough to stick for the entire year, he'll probably be a King for a long long time anyway.
But yeah, he was really impressive in that game vs Vegas against their NHL team basically. His gaps were amazing and his poise with the puck was too.
He looks like a major steal.
Mats26
Vet Movement - What's the Maatta?
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They changed his number to 33, he is on the roster to start the season. Good for him, seems like an honest player that takes no short cuts. Makes plays under pressure that almost look too easy for him. Seems like he was flying under the radar and we were lucky to get him at 22.
The Winter Soldier
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18 year olds straight out of the draft picked at #22 just don't do this. Not unless you are Tobias Bjornfot. He continues to draw praise. "Still Amazing", Could be the steal of the 1st rd.
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
I understand the point, but Chytil was picked 21st in 2017, and made the team right away. Heinola picked 20th just made the Jets.
Mrb1p
PRICERSTOPDAPUCK
KingsHockey24
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The thought of Doughty not being paired with someone like Forbort or McNabb is really exciting.
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