Prospect Info: With the #24 pick, the Wild select (D) Filip Johansson (Allsvenskan, Leksands IF)

[nickschultzfan]

It will be a bad pick if Veleno ends up being a top-6 center, but he was dropping like a rock and its going to be another 2 years at least until anybody knows what they have in him. Remember, Sheppard put up 96 points in the Q.

Maybe Johansson is a bad pick, but the guy gets trashed by fans who were pissed about the Wild, not him. Taking a defensive RHD at #24 in a weak draft is not beyond the pale like some pretend.

 

[Engebretson]

Yeah, in no way should anyone be bashing the kid himself. Bash the organization for probably taking him too high and passing on other players, but it's not like this kid had any control over that.

 

[Minnesnota]

Rasmus Sandin or Dominik Bokk are sitting there for the taking and Fenton picked a player not even the GM of the Swedish national team knew of.

Wake up.

 

[Wild11MN]

Rasmus Sandin or Dominik Bokk are sitting there for the taking and Fenton picked a player not even the GM of the Swedish national team knew of.

Wake up.

Wake up? All most of us are saying is to trash the GM, not the kid.

 

[CROCODILE SEATS]

Some players careers get ruined mentally by all the criticism. Some use the criticism as motivation and end up being better players because of it. Sucks he has to be in this situation, but for the Wilds sake we can only hope he ends up in the latter category.

 

[AKL]

Some players careers get ruined mentally by all the criticism. Some use the criticism as motivation and end up being better players because of it. Sucks he has to be in this situation, but for the Wilds sake we can only hope he ends up in the latter category.

If he’s going to let the criticism of fans get to him to the point that he folds mentally and doesn’t make it, there’s a strong case to be made that he wasn’t going to make it anyway.

 

[Digitalbooya]

You know what, I think he's gonna be just fine. I remember wanting to reserve judgment till I saw him play. The couple times I saw him play at the scrimmages I thought he looked just fine. Smart decisions, good first pass, good positioning, etc. If I remember correctly, he even scored a goal.

Edit: he did score. Start at 43 seconds:


My favorite paragraph to read about Johansson comes from the hockey wilderness:

Filip Johansson scored in the scrimmage off a nice shot from the right circle. Unfortunately, he was not particularly noticeable throughout the game. On the one hand that could be a good thing; defenseman being noticeable often means they’re making a mistake. On the other, as the Wild’s first round draft pick, one might expect Johansson to stand out.

He's not going to be Dumba or Spurgeon. He probably projects to be a slightly more offensive version of Adam Larsson. I see nothing wrong with that out of a late 1st round pick.

 

[57special]

Where's he been quoted that made you cringe?

Russo paraphrasing him...forgot if it was about Boldy, or one of the other picks...

 

[BlackBusa24]

Am I the only one who cringes when he hears PJ Fenton quoted?

Nope

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I think he's going to be our 2nd pair RD in 4 years, and people will be ok with it.

 

[BlackBusa24]

I think he's going to be our 2nd pair RD in 4 years, and people will be ok with it.

If he makes that position and is a efficient I will be more than happy with it especially considering where his draft stock originally was.

First round picks you generally desire more though. Even if they are late picks

 

[AKL]

I think he's going to be our 2nd pair RD in 4 years, and people will be ok with it.

Would require us to trade Spurgeon 3 years into his extension. Not saying it can’t happen, but will be interesting to see the circumstances in which it comes to fruition.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Would require us to trade Spurgeon 3 years into his extension. Not saying it can’t happen, but will be interesting to see the circumstances in which it comes to fruition.

Assuming he’s extended.

 

[AKL]

Assuming he’s extended.

I do, at this point. You look at the 2020-21 season going forward, you have to assume guys like Fiala, Donato, Kunin take steps forward. Kaprizov will be here. Boldy might even be here. You have to think we’ll be competing for a playoff spot and maybe more from then on.

 

[TaLoN]

If he’s going to let the criticism of fans get to him to the point that he folds mentally and doesn’t make it, there’s a strong case to be made that he wasn’t going to make it anyway.

Exactly. He wasn't going to make it at all in the first place if social media criticism is the cause of his failure.

What would he expect from the real media on the big stage if he can't even survive the criticisms of social media before he ever gets there?

 

[TaLoN]

He's not going to be Dumba or Spurgeon. He probably projects to be a slightly more offensive version of Adam Larsson. I see nothing wrong with that out of a late 1st round pick.

Considering the players still on the board at the time?

 

[Digitalbooya]

Considering the players still on the board at the time?

I wanted Bokk, but I’m willing to give the kid a fair shake. If he turns into a top 4 RHD as a late 1st I see that as a win overall. Junior numbers don’t mean anything to me. See Zack Phillips.

 

[TaLoN]

I wanted Bokk, but I’m willing to give the kid a fair shake. If he turns into a top 4 RHD as a late 1st I see that as a win overall. Junior numbers don’t mean anything to me. See Zack Phillips.

If he turns into a 4RHD, that would be only a consolation prize if Bokk turns into a top 6 gifted offensive player as he projects to be.

Right now they could both turn out to be equal to Zack Phillips, but Bokk has looked the more promising of the two thus far.

We made the right choice this year... but there has been nothing thus far to change my opinion that we made the wrong choice last year.

I hope he can prove Fenton right, but I don't have the expectation that he will.

 

[Digitalbooya]

If he turns into a 4RHD, that would be only a consolation prize if Bokk turns into a top 6 gifted offensive player as he projects to be.

Right now they could both turn out to be equal to Zack Phillips, but Bokk has looked the more promising of the two thus far.

We made the right choice this year... but there has been nothing thus far to change my opinion that we made the wrong choice last year.

I hope he can prove Fenton right, but I don't have the expectation that he will.

How often do you watch either one of Bokk or Johansson?

 

[Spurgeon]

How often do you watch either one of Bokk or Johansson?

Just comparing stats, there's a pretty obvious discrepancy between the two. Johansson's number in Sweden's "AHL" league look horrible. Haven't watched either of them, so I don't have much insight either than just looking at stats and reports.

The one guy I can't believe we passed on in 2018 was Veleno.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Just comparing stats, there's a pretty obvious discrepancy between the two. Johansson's number in Sweden's "AHL" league look horrible. Haven't watched either of them, so I don't have much insight either than just looking at stats and reports.

The one guy I can't believe we passed on in 2018 was Veleno.

I’m shocked there is a discrepancy in stats between an offensive forward and a defensive defenseman... This is the issue I have with people comparing players when they’ve watched both probably a combined five or fewer times. I get being mad because Bokk or Veleno filled an organizational need. But that doesn’t guarantee they will be the better pick.

Stat watching is what would get a dman like Ryan Murphy taken above Brodin.

The point: not everything is about offense. Gotta watch the players and make our own judgments. What do people have to say about when they actually saw him play (scrimmage, camp, etc)? Cause I saw a pretty steady player that is good defensively and can chip in a little offense.

 

[Spurgeon]

I’m shocked there is a discrepancy in stats between an offensive forward and a defensive defenseman... This is the issue I have with people comparing players when they’ve watched both probably a combined five or fewer times. I get being mad because Bokk or Veleno filled an organizational need. But that doesn’t guarantee they will be the better pick.

Stat watching is what would get a dman like Ryan Murphy taken above Brodin.

The point: not everything is about offense. Gotta watch the players and make our own judgments. What do people have to say about when they actually saw him play (scrimmage, camp, etc)? Cause I saw a pretty steady player that is good defensively and can chip in a little offense.

Even for a defensive defenseman, 1 goal and 4 points in 47 games isn't very promising. I didn't mean to compare the two directly, but more of how they've grown in their own aspects. As I mentioned, I really haven't watched much of anything of these players, so I might have a bad take. However, the fact that we heavily reached for a defensive defenseman over a center that "fell" to us (he was ranked all over the place in 2018) is the part that irks me the most.

It didn't take much foresight to realize that our lack of center prospects was going to catch up to us very quickly. With reports that Veleno might see NHL action this season, it's very disappointing that Fenton decided to reach for a player whose ceiling is probably close to a 2nd pair defenseman. I'll just never understand drafting a 4-5 year defenseman project when our biggest need was and still is centermen.

I really hope the kid proves me wrong though.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Social media is a cesspool. Good for the kid.

 

[BlackBusa24]

Even for a defensive defenseman, 1 goal and 4 points in 47 games isn't very promising. I didn't mean to compare the two directly, but more of how they've grown in their own aspects. As I mentioned, I really haven't watched much of anything of these players, so I might have a bad take. However, the fact that we heavily reached for a defensive defenseman over a center that "fell" to us (he was ranked all over the place in 2018) is the part that irks me the most.

It didn't take much foresight to realize that our lack of center prospects was going to catch up to us very quickly. With reports that Veleno might see NHL action this season, it's very disappointing that Fenton decided to reach for a player whose ceiling is probably close to a 2nd pair defenseman. I'll just never understand drafting a 4-5 year defenseman project when our biggest need was and still is centermen.

I really hope the kid proves me wrong though.

Since you guys were mentioning him so much I took a look at velenos stats from last year and it's pretty depressing considering how bad we need a center...

2018-19

Drummondville Voltigeurs

QMJHL

59

42

62

104

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Again not beating on the kid... But definitely not pleased with flair and Fenton right now...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He's definitely going to be somewhere in between Claude Giroux and James Sheppard.