Swedish forwards development

[Garl]

Lately we saw several swedish defensemen rise to fame in NHL. Karlsson, OEL, Hedman, slightly older Edler. Larsson and Brodin are really promising aswell.


However development of swedish top forward prospects has been concerning as of late.

Tedenby-not a bust yet, but heading to that direction. Will be 23 y.o. this year and still has to make NHL roster permanently.
Kruger-Wasn't a top prospect at his draft year, but went to NHL very soon, playing his 2nd season in NHL and still doesn't produce offensivly.
Johansson-had a decent season last year, but struggles this year
Paajarvi-swedish best offensive talent in years, was great at WC when he was 20, now at 22 y.o. is almost 0,5 PPG in AHL and is shaping into a 3rd liner at best.
Lander-was a promising offensive player when he was drafted, now is shaping into a pooor-mans Sami Pahlsson.
Josefson-Stagnates at NHL level for 3rd season already.


I'm not insisting they are busts or that being a Sami Pahlsson clone is a bad thing. What is the point of discussion is IMO that all those guys went to NHL a year or 2 too soon. Our best young forwards in NHL at the moment are probably Landeskog, who is an OHL product and also Ullstrom and Hagelin who were never considered to be top prospects and not many people expected them to be NHLers.
Even Silfverberg for example looks to be much more credible in NHL than let's say Paajarvi though the thought of this in 2009 or even in 2010 was laughable.

Click to read more...

 

[VictorLustig]

All of the players you mentioned should have stayed at least one more year in Sweden. Before you head over to the NHL you should be a pretty dominant player in the SEL, and by dominant I mean a top 5 player in the league on your position.

 

[KRM]

Lander was considered a PÃ¥hlsson before being drafted and Silfverberg got Alfie comparisons before his draft as well.

 

[Garl]

Lander was considered a PÃ¥hlsson before being drafted and Silfverberg got Alfie comparisons before his draft as well.

Lander is definately more offensivly gifted than Sami.

 

[joe89]

Having watched the path of many previous Swedish forwards, I'd say it's very very early for some of these guys. If they can stick on a 3rd line for a couple of years, many of them have the offensive potential to be top6 players in their prime. Krüger and Josefson are such guys.

 

[KRM]

Having watched the path of many previous Swedish forwards, I'd say it's very very early for some of these guys. If they can stick on a 3rd line for a couple of years, many of them have the offensive potential to be top6 players in their prime. Krüger and Josefson are such guys.

I'm on the fence about Krüger but Josefson and Johansson should definitely has that ceiling.

But I think it's obvious some of them jumped the gun and headed for NA to early. Hope Forsberg, Collberg, Lindholm, etc have more patience.

 

[Puckluck11]

Tedenby - 1 rounder. Was and still is a boom or bust prospects. Should of stayed 1 more year imo.

Kruger - A responsible playmaker, though lacking size. Verdict is still out and has progressed nicely the latest years but was never a top talent so he doesn't fit the mold of the rest imo.

Johansson - The typical sophmore slump?

Paajarvi - Lacks hockey sense, stagnated, Edmonton molding him into a 3-liner. Needs to be loaned out to SEL or traded to regain confidence imo.

Lander - The same mold as J.Larsson but is slightly behind in most departments. Offensive questions marks was there in the draft and i do not see him anymore than a 3 liner.

Josefson- Offensive questions marks as well going into the draft. Should of stayed one more year being the go-to-guy.

Verdict is still out one these guys but i agree it doesn't look good. Paajarvi didn't have much more to prove after WC so he didn't went to early imo. But if he busts oh my.

Landeskog is the only one so far but i have high hopes on Forsberg, Lindholm and Nylander. That is a small amount of to-be great NHL'ers if we take into account all the good players we are producing. Agree, it is a concern.

 

[joe89]

Krüger might've been a later pick but he didn't have his breakthrough year until after he got drafted. He had two really productive SEL years. Watching him now with Chicago, he's playing high pressure situations already(3on5, 4on5, defending late leads and so on) and he's producing alright. I think one of his biggest assets is that he doesn't play small. Seems like a guy who has the smarts needed to succeed, and he'll stick around in the meanwhile due to his complete game.

In Josefson's case, he simply has to stay healthy.

Lander was never an offensive prospect too me.

Pääjärvi needs a trade and a fresh start. He can't get stuck in a defensive role just because Edmonton's stacked, those are not his main strengths.

 

[Pominville Knows]

I think we have good hopes of finding even better talent on forward the coming drafts then when all our good defensemen were drafted. We need not give up too early to also get a world class offense in some years time, while having the likes of Bäckström and Eriksson still on the roster.

 

[cosmicnavigator]

Not sure staying in the SEL one more year is the answer look at Silfverberg hes really struggling same with Rundblad. Both had really good seasons in SEL, think we overrate a lot of players to be honest they arent that good to begin with (SEL isnt what it used to be).

Looks like the NA route is better these days for forwards Landeskog, Hagelin, Ullström, Stalberg, Nyquist and so on. Might be that we focus to much on two way play in the SEL and they never develop their offensive game.

 

[Puckluck11]

Nothing to do with overrating. Players gets picked high based on potential. There is a huge gap between SEL and NHL. Smaller rinks, better players, faster hockey and so on. Give them time to adjust, Silfverberg hasn't even played 10 games yet.

 

[VictorLustig]

Not sure staying in the SEL one more year is the answer look at Silfverberg hes really struggling same with Rundblad. Both had really good seasons in SEL, think we overrate a lot of players to be honest they arent that good to begin with (SEL isnt what it used to be).

Looks like the NA route is better these days for forwards Landeskog, Hagelin, Ullström, Stalberg, Nyquist and so on. Might be that we focus to much on two way play in the SEL and they never develop their offensive game.

He has been pretty good the games I've watched him, points will come. There were huge concerns whether Rundblad's game would translate to the NHL, maybe it will but he was always a project.