nice write up about him @
Predators’ Prospects Scouting Report: Swedish Free Agents
Joel Persson [D], Vaxjo Lakers HC, 23
Persson, like Pilut, is a young defenseman near the top of his team in scoring. The 23-year-old has 5 goals and 29 points in 42 games which is good for fourth on the Lakers and first amongst defensemen. A quick note:
Emil Pettersson’s younger brother, Elias (a
Canucks prospect), is tearing it up for the Lakers this year with 45 points in 35 games. Persson doesn’t shoot as much as Pilut does but the numbers are still impressive.
The 2017-18 campaign is Persson’s first in the SHL. In fact, he actually jumped straight from the third-tier Swedish league, Hockeyettan, to the SHL this season, and the transition has been fairly seamless. In 38 games last season, Persson scored 40 points. Jumping two leagues and still posting nearly 0.70 points-per-game is impressive. It does certainly help that Vaxjo is steamrolling their competition this season with 17 more points than second-place Djurgarden.
Persson has an identical build to Pilut but might play a more physical game. He is signed by Vaxjo for the next two seasons.
In the clip above, Persson, #94 in blue, makes a bad pinch at the blueline but proceeds to adjust well. His stride is much more drawn out than Pilut’s. He gets back and makes a proper play on the puck, but lack of defensive support leads to a goal against.
Here, Persson looks like a regular on the Preds’ defensive corps in the offensive zone. I’ve noticed he likes to dish more from the center point on the powerplay, whereas Ekholm and Josi tend to dish more from the half-wall and corners. The defensive lapse here by Salzburg isn’t something often seen in the NHL, but I like the awareness to shoot for redirections and deflections.
This clip features a really bizarre choice by one of the Brynas penalty killers, but, regardless, I like Persson’s constant patrolling on the blue line and his heavy shot that’s low to the ice here.
I think Pilut is a notch slightly above Persson and might fit the organization a bit better, but Persson may not have as much NHL competition.