Prospect Info: With the 163rd Overall Pick the New York Rangers Select Simon Kjellberg

[Joey Bones]

@nyr2k2 You can see some highlights of him in this game. He is No. 4 in red....

Seems to be a decently strong skater and positionally sound. It does seem like he is being used on the bottom pairing and it doesn't look like he has a lot of offensive flair to his game. But he is a mobile and big kid. We'll see as the season goes on.

FWIW, Dubuque holds a military training camp at Rock Island Arsenal before the season starts. So Kjellberg should be in shape and it definitely looks like it.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

They took a shot at a kid with a minimal chance of ever making the NHL by passing on several kids who have a minimal chance of ever making the NHL. If this kid was picked in the 3rd round, I'd understand the complaining but it's a 6th round pick.

 

[Ola]

@nyr2k2 You can see some highlights of him in this game. He is No. 4 in red....

Seems to be a decently strong skater and positionally sound. It does seem like he is being used on the bottom pairing and it doesn't look like he has a lot of offensive flair to his game. But he is a mobile and big kid. We'll see as the season goes on.

FWIW, Dubuque holds a military training camp at Rock Island Arsenal before the season starts. So Kjellberg should be in shape and it definitely looks like it.

Definitely!

Amazin K can I ask you took book a ticket to Rock Island Arsenal to check him out?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Definitely!

Amazin K can I ask you took book a ticket to Rock Island Arsenal to check him out?

Hahaha. That's a bit too far for my liking, but I am still looking into a trip to Sweden to see Lundkvist.

 

[Ola]

Hahaha. That's a bit too far for my liking, but I am still looking into a trip to Sweden to see Lundkvist.

Let’s have lunch if you ever are in Stockholm!

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Definitely! It's always fun meeting HFNYR people

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

When teams talk about drafting someone with familial ties to a scout/front office member, that person generally leaves the room for the discussion because of that inherent bias. They do tend to take upside swings in the later rounds, but they also take swings on big defensive defensemen. It’s not out of the question that they think they see something in the kid and it’s not out of the question they’re wrong for that

You can’t teach size, I know. Weren’t there other large defensemen available with actual scouting reports from non relatives?

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

You can’t teach size, I know. Weren’t there other large defensemen available with actual scouting reports from non relatives?

See the first sentence of what you quoted for my response

 

[nyr2k2]

8 games, 0 points, 0 PIM, +4, 4 SOG so far.

 

[Harbour Dog]

No surprise there.

Do we know yet what type of player he's supposed to be? I assume stay-at-home D?

Maybe we see tremendous potential in his ability to evaluate talent. We actually drafted him so that we'd own his rights once he's out of school and can immediately assign him to our scouting staff. He could be the Gretzky of amateur scouts.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

No surprise there.

Do we know yet what type of player he's supposed to be? I assume stay-at-home D?

Maybe we see tremendous potential in his ability to evaluate talent. We actually drafted him so that we'd own his rights once he's out of school and can immediately assign him to our scouting staff. He could be the Gretzky of amateur scouts.

He is big and skates well, isn’t a stiff of any sort, according to what I have heard and read and whatnot.

We have made bad picks and this could be another one. We haven’t really hit it off with Swedish picks, Sjallin and co. Nothing sailing out of the ball park.

But I still think it’s one of those situations that you just must lean back at and wait.

My bet is that they watched him play and thought he was really solid, for playing juniors in Sweden. Then they tested him and he had excellent results. Great shape, great on his skates etc. He checks the boxes I think for what is likely to find in later rounds, someone that can skate and defend and move the puck a bit. They must have thought that he had perfect attitude.

I personally would definitely have liked to see us pick more Russians in later rounds. With the defective status you never lose their rights. Most of them want to come over.

But if Kjellberg can get into the NCAA and do well there, it’s a good program. Could become a good player.

One thing though, Simon played tournaments for the U16 and U17 Swedish National teams. They use maybe 10 Ds in a season. Sometimes it sounds like he was a completely out of nowhere pick. Looking at those national teams he was on they had Rasmus’s Dahlin and Sandin, Boqvist, Gynning, Nils Lundqvist and so forth. Sure it’s no proof of much that you played — some, not much at all — for U16 and U17 national teams. But it’s certainly takes a lot to even get to dip your feets at that level. Only the top 10 Ds or so in Sweden get to do it every year. My point is just that he has been up there with the top talents for a while and isn’t completely coming out of nowhere.

This is the best write up I’ve seen of him

 

[Harbour Dog]

This is the best write up I’ve seen of him

Thanks! Never realized we had actual info on him in this thread; should of went back through it all.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Thanks! Never realized we had actual info on him in this thread; should of went back through it all.

No worries. I think there’s still a good bit of mystery around him, I don’t think anyone who posts has gotten to see him play post-drafting him, so there’s not much to go on with how he’s been doing

 

[nyr2k2]

Ola's post, while logical, was mainly conjecture, and based on what he has seen and read (by his own admission). The best first hand account I have seen is from this random guy:

I've seen him play probably 20-30 times over the last two years. Surprised he got drafted. He's a decent defender, pretty smart positionally and has a good first pass. But that's about it. Super long-shot of a pick. If his skating wasn't so ugly I could see some potential in him since he has solid hockey IQ but with no real offensive ability, subpar skating combined with the fact that he is very soft and doesn't use his size at all I don't really get it.

I had some hopes for him after the 16/17 season where he looked solid as a 'rookie' in J20 SuperElit, but he just didn't progress at all from last year to this year, at least not in the first half of the season. I didn't see him down the stretch. I guess if he figures out his skating there is a slim chance he could be a bottom-pair D in the NHL.

Again I don't know this guy. But, he came here specifically to comment on an otherwise innocuous sixth round pick, so I see no reason to doubt his credibility.

 

[Joey Bones]

His name was mentioned a few times in this highlight vid. No. 4 in red....

For those that don't know, the name is pronounced "Shell-Burgh" even though it's spelt Kjellberg

 

[Ola]

Thanks nyr2k2! The skates well part is something I got from a report from his former team when they got him (when he was 15-16).

What I’ve seen of him is just the very limited clips available.

 

[Ola]

A good article!

Simon Kjellberg föddes i USA - nu är han tillbaka

 

[Harbour Dog]

This article was posted six days ago and is behind a paywall. I'm sure it's just normal fluff about how well he is transitioning (the first sentence is him saying that the smaller ice suits his style), but if someone has a subscription then it's probably worth a peruse at the very least.

Fighting Saints' Kjellberg a quick study in USHL

 

[Joey Bones]

A good article!

Simon Kjellberg föddes i USA - nu är han tillbaka

I like how he describes his game as "a defensive back you can trust."

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Sitting down with this kid this week to ask him some questions. Stay tuned.

I reached out to @nyr2k2 because I feel his no 1 fan deserves to have a say in what we discuss

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Interview dropping soon:

 

[Irishguy42]

Elite

 

[Fitzy]

I continue to think that the NCAA is now by far the best developmental league in the Western Hemisphere for potential non-Elite NHL talent.

 

[Kakko Schmakko]

Interview dropping soon:

Should Brian Leetch be worried?

 

[nyr2k2]

I continue to think that the NCAA is now by far the best developmental league in the Western Hemisphere for potential non-Elite NHL talent.

I agree completely.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

I always had a feeling Kjellberg would end up making it just to spite @nyr2k2

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I continue to think that the NCAA is now by far the best developmental league in the Western Hemisphere for potential non-Elite NHL talent.

If for no other reason that teams get to own the player's rights for 4-5 years, NCAA is indeed a much better path for long-shot prospects.