Prospect Info: With the #148 pick, the Wild select (D) Simon Johansson (SHL, Djurgårdens IF)

[Minnesota]

Simon Johansson at eliteprospects.com

PLAYER STATISTICS

S	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	TP	PIM	+/-		GP	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
------------------	Djurgårdens IF								|

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	Djurgårdens IF J18	J18 Allsvenskan	1	0	3	3	0	4	|	Playoffs	4	0	3	3	4	2
	Djurgårdens IF J20	SuperElit	41	7	14	21	18	2	|	Playoffs	2	0	0	0	0	-1
2017-18	Djurgårdens IF J20 “A”	SuperElit	43	16	20	36	20	-3	|	Playoffs	3	1	1	2	2	-3
	Djurgårdens IF	SHL	8	1	0	1	0	-1	|
	Sweden U19 (all)	International-Jr	4	4	1	5	4	3	|
2018-19	Djurgårdens IF J20 “A”	SuperElit	-	-	-	-	-		|
	Djurgårdens IF	SHL	-	-	-	-	-		|
	Sweden U20 (all)	International-Jr	-	-	-	-	-		|

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A proactive defenseman with very good size and upside. Can move the puck and finish the play in the offensive zone too, Draftin Europe 2018

He scored 16 goals in 2017-18, so he's got some offensive skill.

Click to read more...

 

[Digitalbooya]

Nice to see the goal scoring numbers and he’s a right D to boot.

 

[Minnesota]

Is this guy completely under the radar? Typically we see articles or quotes about players post-draft, but I haven’t seen a single thing about this kid.

 

[Wabit]

Is this guy completely under the radar? Typically we see articles or quotes about players post-draft, but I haven’t seen a single thing about this kid.

"He's gotta get stronger and put on some weight, but as the season went on, he played really well," Flahr said. "He's got an offensive dimension, and he's highly competitive. He's going to have to fill out and get stronger, but he's got another dimension, and he's in a good program."

This is all I've really seen said about him from the Wild. I haven't watched any of the Wild draft day interviews, so maybe something was said there?

The quote looks like code for: "We took a flyer on an overager that has to prove it in the SHL (not the SHL Jr's) before we give him a contract. It's a 5th round boom or bust pick, nothing to see here as of yet. If he works out, we look smart. If he doesn't, it was just a 5th round pick that didn't work out; like most 5th rounders."

Get him into dev camp and see how he looks on smaller ice. Tell him what he needs to work on. Keep an eye on him this season in Europe/U-20.

This is basically the same front office/scouts that Kaprizov said never really had much contact with him. It's not like Russo is going to fly over to Sweden to get a quote from the kid.

 

[Wabit]

This explains his offensive numbers.

Simon is new to the position, having transitioned from center to defense just three years ago, something reflected in his more robust offensive numbers last season with Djurgardens IF, where he scored 16 goals and 20 assists in just 43 games.

Wild's Johanssons share surname, common goal at development camp

 

[Digitalbooya]

Looked good during the scrimmage.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Maybe the first time a team has drafted 2 players with the same last name in a single draft since the Sedins?

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Maybe the first time a team has drafted 2 players with the same last name in a single draft since the Sedins?

San Jose drafted Julien Demers and Jason Demers in 2008. Canucks drafted Nathan and Tim Smith in 2000 too - trying to catch lightning in a bottle?

Filip and Simon were the second and third Johanssons drafted by the Wild, which I had forgotten.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

a little late...but here's some footage of him playing in a international tournament a few months back:

SWE - SUI http://www.hokej.cz/tv/hokejka/video/4016?autostart=true

SWE - CZE http://www.hokej.cz/tv/hokejka/video/4019?autostart=true

SWE - GER http://www.hokej.cz/tv/hokejka/video/4013?autostart=true

He's number #5

 

[Kase]

Simon has had pretty decent start to his SHL season. Scored 1+1 in today's game, and has 1+2 in two games so far. He got little bit under 12 minutes of ice time today.

Took me a while to realize that he was playing in the game, as I was watching it for other purposes. Saw probably about half of his shifts, and during that time he definitely flashed his offensive upside. Seems to be really offensive minded player, as he was pretty much always looking for ways to contribute offensively, whether it was skating the puck out of the d zone all the way to the o zone or pinching and pressuring the opposition forwards in their zone or even crashing the opposition net in case of loose pucks. Didn't really see him in defensive situations so can't comment on how that side of his game is progressing, but he looked maybe little bit reckless at times and probably has some work to do in that area.

Thankfully there is a highly touted 2020 draft prospect playing on his team, so I have a reason to watch more of his games.