Thoughts on How The Red Wing Swedes Did at the World Juniors

[MBH]

Lucas Raymond - Raymond played too much on the perimeter and just didn't making things happen the way I thought he might. Nothing Raymond did negates from the player I saw in a few SHL games this year, when he showed me real talent and an ability to go hunting in the tough areas for his meat. For whatever reason, he didn't play inspired hockey - especially against the good teams. I knew he'd rebound today against a weak Finnish team.
It's hard to say how this viewing impacted my view of Raymond. I think he's clearly a player with top 6 upside, but I already had questions about whether this guy had the ability to be a lot more than a Nyquist or Tatar - and this tournament underlined those questions.
Elmer Soderblom - I think if you're a Red Wings fan, he was the story of the tournament. He only had three points - 2 PPG and an assist. But what impressed me more than anything was his ability to take over shifts for Sweden. He'd create 20-30 second chaos shifts where the opposition could do nothing more than hope Elmer ran out of real estate.
For me, I had Soderblom ranked 12th among Red Wings prospects. I have him moving up to at least 8th.
He already had the hands. But his hands have improved.
He already had size - but he's even taller at 6'8, and heavier at 235.
He already skated well for a big guy - and he's even better.
He showed a take charge attitude on the ice - didn't matter if high ranking swedes Broberg, Raymond, Gunler or Holtz were out there.
He's got room to improve - Acceleration/Balance. Dzone work was a bit rough at times (but he blocked a number of shots). I'd like to see his passing improve a bit, too.
But I'm on the Soderblom bandwagon. I think his floor might not be as certain as Rasmussen - but I think his ceiling is higher.
Albert Johansson - I don't want to say Johansson was bad. He just wasn't as good as I hoped he could be. I was really disappointed with how soft and unengaged his defensive play was. He made mistakes on defensive reads - like young players do. Offensively, he's got to get to the point where he turns that skating into something beyond Brett Lebda-like contributions. I had already started tempering my expectations on Johansson based on Swedish league viewing. He looked a lot more like an iffy 3rd pairing guy than a solid 2nd pairing guy to me...
Theodor Niederbach - Kind of a weird tournament. Let's start by saying he looks small. But let's continue by saying that he works his ass off against bigger players. Most of the time, he made smart, simple plays. Every once in awhile he flashed a sneaky move. He was kind of the slot/second netfront guy a lot and I think he got both goals on rebounds - showed a willingness to play in tough areas. Also aced Faceoffs. He did a lot of little things right. But he didn't drive the play very much. All in all, I'm not sure what to make of his tournament.
Gustav Berglund - The 6'2, 210 defensemen didn't get to play much. His assist was pretty sweet - stopping a rush and turned it up ice with a breakout pass. I didn't see enough of him to really change this sort of vague idea I have that there's more to this kid than he gets credit for. I had the same kinds of thoughts about Soderblom when the tournament began - and Soderblom played and showed it. Berglund never got that shot.
Top 15 Before/After WJC (yeah, I know Finland's still playing)
BEFORE ----------- AFTER
1. Seider ----------- 1. Seider -
2. Raymond -------- 2. Raymond -
3. Veleno --------- 3. Veleno -
4. Berggren ------- 4. Berrgren -
5. Johansson ----- 5. Soderblom +7
6. Niederbach ---- 6. Johansson -1
7. McIsaac -------- 7. Niederbach -1
8. Svechnikov ---- 8. McIsaac -1
9. Wallinder ----- 9. Svechnikov -1
10. Mastrosimone- 10. Wallinder -1
11. Smith --------- 11. Mastrosimone -1
12. Soderblom --- 12. Smith -1
13. Hanas ------ 13. Viro NA
14. Phillips ----- 14. Hanas -1
15. Petruzelli -- 15. Phillips -1

Click to read more...

 

[Killerjas]

LOL at Soderblom being the 5th best prospect now... Flavor of the day I guess, he has a long way to go to make it.

 

[ArmChairGM89]

I thought neiderbach, costmar, and holmstrom were their best most consistent players in the tournament. To each their own, I guess.

 

[Pavels Dog]

My opinion hasn't changed much on any of them.

I think they were all pretty good in the context of how the team did.

Johansson was the most mixed, I wonder if it's small ice throwing him off or something about the defensive strategy. I've seen him look very good defensively in the SHL so I was a bit surprised when he was making so many mistakes at this tournament. I'm not really worried but I will keep an extra close watch on him when he gets back to SHL to study the defensive side. He was definitely more aggressive with pinching and standing up at the bluelines here but the decisionmaking on when to do it was very 50/50.

Söderblom has made a name for himself as a legit prospect. Curious to see if Frölunda starts using him more and giving him looks on the PP in that same role. What was most promising about Söderblom was he actually looked good against even the better teams. I'm still in "pump the brakes" mode a bit when it comes to him, but he's had a few SHL shifts where he shows he CAN do it against pros as well. If he starts doing it consistently, he's going to climb our prospects ranks fast.
He needs to become a better finisher though, so many of his finishes after a bunch of nice work were weak as hell.

Niederbach makes me concerned when it comes to his skating. I like his skill though. I think by the end of tournament he proved that he should have gotten that #1C opportunity right from the start. Overall though, 2 "fluke" goals in 5 games isn't that impressive even if his line usually played well.

Raymond was great imo. I feel the same about him as in the SHL, his finishing ability is not quite there yet, against teams that effectively take the body he has no countermeasure since he's not strong enough yet, but he also has the ability to be electrifying. That goal against Finland is imo the prettiest of the tournament. He also showed a lot of fight, took a lot of punishment and kept returning.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I enjoyed watching Elmer stickhandle through opponents. 6'1" defensemen were reaching in and trying to poke check him and they just couldn't reach him. I think that his performance is a good sign for where he's at as a prospect and where he could go. At the same age Johan Ryno, another Wings big man winger prospect, wasn't able to make moves like that. If he can improve his skating balance and work on getting his shot through traffic then he's got top 6 written all over him.

I really liked Niederbach's game overall. His skating was the only thing that prevented him from being more effective as a play driver. Niederbach dominated faceoffs and was 3rd in faceoff wins by primary centers with 64% win percentage. He showed a knack for holding onto the puck and keeping possession along the offensive boards, was good in transition, and made had some good takeaways on the backcheck to disrupt the other team. Very easily the best center for Sweden this year. I'm still sticking with my earlier Jarnkrok comparison and I think he's going to be a player with added leg strength and improved acceleration.

Johansson was like the rest of the Swedish D in this tournament; inconsistent. He was probably Sweden's 2nd best defenseman this tournament behind Soderstrom, however that's not as much of a complement as it should be. I like his SHL play this year much more than his WJC play, but it also makes me wonder if it's because the larger rink size in Europe allows him that extra half a second to make decisions. I also didn't like how inconsistent he was physically. The first 2 games he was stepping up and he'd take his man into the wall in the defensive zone. Against Russia, USA and Finland he played timid. Johansson is still my #4 Detroit prospect but I think that this shows that the kid has a long way to go in transforming his game. to be NHL ready. I'd say another 3 years.

Gustav Berglund didn't play nearly enough. Brannstrom, Hedstrom and Andrae were not better. I feel like we were robbed of another solid Wings' prospect performance.

Raymond's work ethic impressed me and stood out on the team. Great puck possession ability, good passing, and was probably the best forward defensively for Sweden. He probably could have a lot more points if the first 4 games he wasn't lugging around Holtz and Sundsvik. I like that he wanted to be the guy and wanted the game on his stick all of the time. I also liked the chemistry that he showed with our other guys and think it bodes well for us.

Another observation, our Frolunda kids (Niederbach, Elmer, Raymond) played a more mature game than the other SHL kids, especially the Djurgarden kids. I can't help but think that's in part due to Frolunda's system and coaching. They did a good job of managing risk and showed a lot of hustle for the team. Edvinsson (2021) is also on that Frolunda team, and Hakan Andersson seems to trust their system, soooo...

 

[Hen Kolland]

Edvinsson (2021) is also on that Frolunda team, and Hakan Andersson seems to trust their system, soooo...

People will remind you, not me, but people will remind you that Dahlin is a Frolunda product. Again, this is just what people say.

 

[ricky0034]

I like Soderblom and all but I feel like it's important to keep in mind here that he's a year older than Raymond and Niederbach

especially considering Nieberbach missed that whole year of development a couple years ago

 

[J15]

Raymond- Mixed feelings. On one hand I think there's an argument to be made that he was Sweden's best player. On the other hand, when a team under performs like Sweden did I think a lot of that should fall on the teams best players. While you can certainly make good arguments about why the performance wasn't necessarily his fault (terrible defensemen, Holtz killing the play every time he touched the puck, inconsistent play from whoever was centering his lines, and the several small injuries he sustained), I still would have liked to see Raymond take over and do it himself the way star players tend to do in this tournament. I agree with MBH that he seemed to play too much of a perimeter game, I would have loved to see him make more cuts to the center and generate shots on goal. Just seemed like he was giving the defense too much respect at times. After playing against men full time in the SHL I think I had convinced myself that he was absolutely going to have his way against players his own age. Instead it looked like he was playing as if he was still in the SHL, which is to say he was solid, played well, and was responsible. Just not the dominant, score a hat trick in the finals, type of performance I had hoped for.

Soderblom- Definitely impressed but I still don't think I'm ready to say he's a lock to make the NHL. One thing that seemed to be missing was a shot. When he had the puck on his stick it seemed like nobody could take it away from him. It also seemed like he didn't always know what to do with it, and a lot of those possessions would end with him skating into traffic and getting the puck poked away. When he was able to drive the net he looked absolutely lethal, but if that's all he can do then NHL defenses will pick up on it pretty quickly. Developing a shot that defenders have to respect it crucial for this next step. I'm also kind of curious what kind of role he hopes to fill in the NHL. Is he going to be a power forward/net front presence, a PK/energy player, or a pure skill player?

Niederbach- Might be a slightly unpopular opinion but I was most impressed with Niederbach out of all of our Swedes. From the moment he was picked it was made clear he was going to be a longer term "project" type player, partly because of the severe knee injury he was coming off of and partly because he was a late physical developer. With that in mind, going from someone who was unlikely to make the team, to their #1C in the matter of weeks is pretty significant. Obviously the COVID situation allowed that to happen, but if someone were to have told you this on draft day then you would have to be happy about it. In terms of his actual play, I think he was quietly pretty good. Wasn't afraid to go into corners, always seemed really aware of where his teammates were, made some really high skill play, and played pretty responsibly defensively. Obviously you would have liked to see more in terms of production, but the Raymond/Holtz line did look noticeably better with him on it. I think part of the reason I was so impressed is because all of the glaring weaknesses of his game were areas I already knew he had to work on. If he can get a little faster and a little stronger on his skates I don't see how someone with his hockey IQ doesn't make the NHL.

Johansson- Probably the prospect I was most disappointed with. Given his play in the SHL and the fact that he is a 19 year old, I was expecting a much more mature game. He has tools but his decision making seemed completely off sometimes. There were more than a few plays where it was just painfully obvious that a goal/chance was purely his fault. Coming into this tournament I wasn't even aware that decision making was a potential problem for him. I really hope this tournament was an outlier, because mistakes like those will land you in the press box at which point it doesn't matter how smooth of a skater you are. Really hope we don't have a Brendan Smith on our hands.

Berglund- What's there to say really? He looked good in the game that he played. Confused how he doesn't get at least another game after that performance. Hell, put him in for Johansson.

 

[Frk It]

What is going on in Sweden with their lack of centers?

No disrespect to Soderblom, but look at what these other countries are running down the middle with the talent at center. For being a later rounded draft pick, I think Soderblom did admirably. But hard for me to expect Sweden to go far when for whatever reason it just looks like their well has totally dried up with young centers.

 

[lilidk]

Raymond was good, his linemates were suck. I guess he needs to get stronger to handle 20 minutes a game. He is exactly what Red Wings needs, playmaker.
Niederbach going to get much better , watch out.
Soderblom was good , good , but he probably going to have hard time to adjust to NHL.
Patience and Hope for the rest.

 

[Ezekial]

What is going on in Sweden with their lack of centers?

No disrespect to Soderblom, but look at what these other countries are running down the middle with the talent at center. For being a later rounded draft pick, I think Soderblom did admirably. But hard for me to expect Sweden to go far when for whatever reason it just looks like their well has totally dried up with young centers.

Their 2 best centers had to back out due to covid.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Raymond- I think he was Sweden's best player. He created the most opportunities by my eye test (and I've seen some advanced stats that seem to agree) but didn't finish enough. More than anything, I think he was too committed to the mythos that surrounds him and Holtz. He passed up a lot of chances to shoot in favor of passing to his bud and the play fizzled as they too frequently played give and go until there was a turnover. That line looked way better once Niederbach was with them as without a third threat at center, they were two easily shut down by just having someone float on Holtz until Raymond passed it to him. I also think Raymond tried to do it himself more as the tournament went on and the team benefited. I thought Raymond showed very high end skill, consistently beating his man, lots of great setups and one really nice goal in that Finland game. Still I was hoping he'd dominate and while he was quite good, he also didn't do enough to meet my high expectations.

Soderblom on the other hand blew my expectations out of the water. His between the legs goals were sweet, but, as others have said, it was his ability to carry the puck into the zone with control that I found most impressive. Our 6th rounder was one of Sweden's most impactful forwards and I couldn't have expected more.the Soderblom > Rasmussen discussion is still premature IMO as Ras has been steadily progressing at the pro level and remains a much safer bet... But Soderblom went from a long shot to a legit prospect for me this tournament.

Johansson was the most disappointing of our crew. He had too many turnovers and his pairing got scored on too much. His smooth skating was apparent and I just think he never found a good rhythm in this tournament. He's an excellent example of why we shouldn't get too down (or hyped on other's case like Soderblom) over such a small sample size.

I thought Niederbach was good. He made some skilled plays, and completely changed the look of the top line when they finally fixed it. I can see top 6 NHL upside there but he's got a ways to go as he needs to get stronger and faster before playing in the NHL.

 

[William Rusco]

Only Soderblom stood out. Both good and bad. He had a tendency to try and do to much. He got out of his skill zone a few times making turn overs and botched plays. When he stayed in his skill zone he did very well. Making passes from behind the net causing good scoring chances was a strength. Screening the Goalie was anouther.

All the others were, ok, They played well, but not exceptional. Nothing really stood out.

 

[jaster]

Niederbach- Might be a slightly unpopular opinion but I was most impressed with Niederbach out of all of our Swedes.

I agree. His hockey IQ was real impressive, he thought the game quicker than other players. Made great reads. He went to all the areas. He made slick moves in tight. He worked the boards well. He played responsible in his own end. Sound familiar?

Ok, while Zetterberg was a 9 or 10 in all those categories, maybe Niederbach tops out as only a 7 or 8 in all those categories. He will not be Zetterberg. But he has similar strengths and weaknesses playing the same position. If he can develop into a 2nd-line, poor man's version of Zetterberg, I won't be shocked, but I will be thrilled.

Next steps for Niederbach are to finish this season learning and developing in the top league, and then next season taking a bigger role and putting up points there.

After Raymond, he has the highest upside of any of our Swedish prospects.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Only Soderblom stood out. Both good and bad. He had a tendency to try and do to much. He got out of his skill zone a few times making turn overs and botched plays. When he stayed in his skill zone he did very well. Making passes from behind the net causing good scoring chances was a strength. Screening the Goalie was anouther.

All the others were, ok, They played well, but not exceptional. Nothing really stood out.

I’m guessing you’re the kind of guy that thinks McDavid is just an OK skater.

 

[brentashton]

Soderblom impressed me with his ability handle the puck being such a big rangy man-boy. As with many big bodies I had a hard time truthfully evaluating his skating. At times it looked labored but sometimes that is how a big guy looks when in fact they are covering ground at a good clip. Raymond has big league skills but he’s a ways off from being on an NHL club yet. He needs to season his game, probably in Grand Rapids. All in all this junior crop seemed average at best. No standouts and not a failure neither. Time will tell.

 

[MBH]

LOL at Soderblom being the 5th best prospect now... Flavor of the day I guess, he has a long way to go to make it.

For me, i just watched more of Soderblom, Raymond, Johansson and Niederbach in real competition than I ever previously have.
Of course it has a HUGE impact on my personal rankings.
If I were to have the opportunity to watch some of these other guys this much it would be the same deal - if a player made an impact.

 

[Frk It]

Their 2 best centers had to back out due to covid.

Yeah, but even still it seems like they lack talent down the middle compared to other top countries recently.

I guess all the kids in Sweden just want to dangle/snipe on the wing or play defense.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I found Sweden's coaching—what there was of it—completely maddening. They didn't really break up lines or pairings that weren't working. They just let it ride, and it was a total disaster. At no point in the tournament did Raymond and Holtz find their old chemistry. They should have been broken up, and then we might not be having this conversation. Niederbach was a good addition to the line, but Holtz still had nothing to do with the play. They would find him, he would shoot from a not particularly dangerous spot, and the play would die. I don't think it's necessarily Holtz's fault, but it clearly was not working, and team Sweden did nothing about it.

And the Johansson/Soderstrom pairing was at best awkward all tournament long. But they just kept going with it, and it burned them... several times. Those two should have been broken up. There were plenty of other guys to match them with, and it's not like any of the other pairings were doing great. But they just did nothing, and nothing ever improved. Crazy, right?

Soderblum did have a good tournament for the role he played, but I still thought most of his dangerous moments were ones he created himself.

Overall, it's kind of upsetting to have basically all of our prospects' tournament ruined by such a poorly run team. Sweden has to look at this and say: never again will we be this disorganized and amateurish.

 

[Frk It]

I found Sweden's coaching—what there was of it—completely maddening. They didn't really break up lines or pairings that weren't working. They just let it ride, and it was a total disaster. At no point in the tournament did Raymond and Holtz find their old chemistry. They should have been broken up, and then we might not be having this conversation. Niederbach was a good addition to the line, but Holtz still had nothing to do with the play. They would find him, he would shoot from a not particularly dangerous spot, and the play would die. I don't think it's necessarily Holtz's fault, but it clearly was not working, and team Sweden did nothing about it.

And the Johansson/Soderstrom pairing was at best awkward all tournament long. But they just kept going with it, and it burned them... several times. Those two should have been broken up. There were plenty of other guys to match them with, and it's not like any of the other pairings were doing great. But they just did nothing, and nothing ever improved. Crazy, right?

Soderblum did have a good tournament for the role he played, but I still thought most of his dangerous moments were ones he created himself.

Overall, it's kind of upsetting to have basically all of our prospects' tournament ruined by such a poorly run team. Sweden has to look at this and say: never again will we be this disorganized and amateurish.

It seems like people had expectations for this team like it was stacked with top 10 picks or something, when it wasn’t. Just because it’s Sweden?

I mean like... yeah, maybe he should have tried to change the forward lines around. But it’s not like they had a ton of other great options. Holmstom was the only other 1st round forward on the team if I’m not mistaken? I can understand why you’d go down with the Holtz/Raymond ship looking at that forward group.

I can agree on the Johansson/Soderstrom pairing. The defensive pairs should have been the strength of that team.

 

[Vector Cereal]

If Holtz and Raymond stay in the SHL next year, the Swedes are looking at a better team (correct me if someone is ineligible 0r missing).

Holtz Niederbach Raymond
Lysell Eklund Olausson
Nybeck Dower Nilsson Torgersson
Robertsson Tarnstrom Rosen
Ljungman Stromgren

Edvinsson Andrae
Wallinder Grans
Loof Olsson

Wallstedt
Clang

 

[ChadS]

Yeah, but even still it seems like they lack talent down the middle compared to other top countries recently.

I guess all the kids in Sweden just want to dangle/snipe on the wing or play defense.

Actually I do recall Sweden's junior teams often having more of the bigger, two-way guys at center and more skill on the wings. That was certainly highlighted this year with Henriksson and Eklund out.

I think this lack of offensive support at C along with coaching troubles also hurt their breakouts and made the D look worse. Johansson was the 5th highest drafted D on that team (4th among 2019 picks) so it's not like he was expected to dominate. I honestly don't think he performed as bad as some are making it sound when considering the performance of the other Ds. Those 3 other 2019 picks are all high-end prospects and with basically all of them looking off or unimpressive to varying degrees it suggests that perhaps there were some deeper systemic problems. So Johansson's performance is certainly worth noting but also taking it with what it's worth, 5 games in several of which he looked fine.

 

[Frk It]

If Holtz and Raymond stay in the SHL next year, the Swedes are looking at a better team (correct me if someone is ineligible 0r missing).

Holtz Niederbach Raymond
Lysell Eklund Olausson
Nybeck Dower Nilsson Torgersson
Robertsson Tarnstrom Rosen
Ljungman Stromgren

Edvinsson Andrae
Wallinder Grans
Loof Olsson

Wallstedt
Clang

Holtz does not seem that far away from being pro ready to me.

 

[J15]

Holtz does not seem that far away from being pro ready to me.

He's playing full time pro hockey in the SHL now. If you mean NHL ready then I completely disagree. He was abysmal the entire tournament. Not even "bad compared to my high expectations" just straight up bad. The only time he looked somewhat competent was when he was on the power play and had to stand still and fire uncontested one timers. He failed the eye test when you first watched the games, but I've gone through and rewatched a few periods and when you focus in on him it's just glaringly obvious. Literally every time he touched the puck in the offensive zone the play would die. Either a give away, an awful pass to nobody, or a bad shot. He couldn't win a battle on the boards, he couldn't keep the puck in the zone when he needed to, and he couldn't complete a clean pass. I assume this tournament was an outlier for him, but still it must hurt to be a New Jersey fan and watch that.

 

[MBH]

He's playing full time pro hockey in the SHL now. If you mean NHL ready then I completely disagree. He was abysmal the entire tournament. Not even "bad compared to my high expectations" just straight up bad. The only time he looked somewhat competent was when he was on the power play and had to stand still and fire uncontested one timers. He failed the eye test when you first watched the games, but I've gone through and rewatched a few periods and when you focus in on him it's just glaringly obvious. Literally every time he touched the puck in the offensive zone the play would die. Either a give away, an awful pass to nobody, or a bad shot. He couldn't win a battle on the boards, he couldn't keep the puck in the zone when he needed to, and he couldn't complete a clean pass. I assume this tournament was an outlier for him, but still it must hurt to be a New Jersey fan and watch that.

Yeah. Stupid penalties. Selfish shot selection.
Every once in awhile, he'd make a brilliant play (setting up the Raymond goal). But was it the Russia game where his penalty cost them Russia's winning goal? It's like - he was a total non-factor after that.