Future Considerations’ Swedish-based scout Mikael Kreutz gives his thoughts on who from the 2014 NHL Draft class left him impressed, who disappointed and who his sleeper is on draft day.
To go even deeper into the draft class, pick up Future Considerations’ 2014 NHL Draft Guide, containing our ranking of the top-210 prospects, full profiles on 210 draft eligibles, a two-round mock draft, a glimpse at the 2015 NHL Draft and much, much more! Click HERE to find out more!
Who Impressed?
One of the teams I had the chance to see the most this season was Linköping and for every time I watched them one player climbed higher and higher on my list; Gustav Forsling.
A stand out player on a very strong defensive line-up for Linköping, Forsling plays with great poise, always in control of the play. His passing game is flawless, distributing the puck with great accuracy on even the longest stretch passes. Offensively he finds players in good scoring situations, defensively he never puts his teammates in bad spots.
He has a huge offensive arsenal from the blue line, excellent quarterbacking on the power play, showing a great ability to thread the needle and when he does fire it, goaltenders have a very hard time tracking his shot.
Away from the puck he plays a solid defensive game, reads the play well and doesn’t neglects his defensive assignments. He does a convincing job in front of the net, and while he wont out power his opponents, Forsling keeps them at a distance from his goalie and has a knack for finding lose pucks and getting them away from danger.
Who Disappointed?
On the other side of the spectrum I headed into the season with very high expectations on another Linköping player.
After his fine play for Sweden’s gold medal winning team at the World Under-17 Challenge, Henrik Törnqvist was one of the players I was looking forward to the most following this season, but for every game he left me more and more disappointed in his performance. Törnqvist have struggled badly in some of the games I’ve seen, sometimes looking frustrated that he haven’t been able to connect even the most simple passes, which gives you hope in seeing him redeem himself next time around. Instead, you get a lackluster effort out of him.
By the time the playoffs rolled in, Törnqvist had found his game and played at a more constant level, but still, it was far from what you hope to see from a player that one year ago looked like one of the most interesting players out of Sweden for the 2014 NHL Draft.
Who Surprised?
Frölunda’s 6-foot-4 winger Pierre Engvall started the season slowly and in a minor role. Come April, he was the go to guy offensively and one of the most reliable forwards defensively for Frölunda’s U20 team. I’m still baffled by team Sweden brass’ decision to somehow leave him of the roster for the World Under-18 Championship.
Engvall is the perfect combination of speed, size, and skill. He is a smooth skater with a big reach who is very hard to contain when he gets up to speed, his powerful wrist shot makes him a constant threat on breakaway.
Although there are aspects of his game that needs work, there is no doubt in my mind that Engvall will be a valuable player NHL in the future. The question is, which will be the lucky team to call his name at the Wells Fargo Center?
To go even deeper into the draft class, pick up Future Considerations’ 2014 NHL Draft Guide, containing our ranking of the top-210 prospects, full profiles on 210 draft eligibles, a two-round mock draft, a glimpse at the 2015 NHL Draft and much, much more! Click HERE to find out more!