When I read his scouting reports it is always heavy accurate shot, good speed, high hockey IQ, 200 ft game, doing dirty work, etc.
Personally, I'm not as high on his hockey IQ as these reports. I'm more or less convinced that I had a couple of bad viewings though and it's more of a strength than I give it credit for. I've just seen him skate a puck directly into traffic too often.
This is an excellent point. I remember being shocked that he fell to LA. (Full, disclosure, I was ok if not thrilled with kindle, so?) But back then draft eligibles rarely played on the senior circuit, and Kopitar outproduced most who had.
It almost feels similar to when the Wings first started targeting russian/swedish players before the rest of the league caught on. Seems like they might be sending extra looks to these countries that people don't consider to be the best of the best. You see a kid that likely grew up training in Norway/Austria/Germany and have much less at their disposal than countries where more money is poured into hockey development. Suddenly, you have kids that have excelled at the same level as these first-round prospects with quite possibly a more difficult road to get here.
That might be true for prospects playing in their home country but MBN has been playing in Sweden for the last 2 years so it's not like the Wings went out of their way to see him play in an obscure league or anything like that.
I am with you. He was playing in a league in Sweden well known to all pro scouts. He was in plain sight for all to see and evalutate.
His skating (both technically and in terms of explosiveness) are both in the top 10% of this draft class. Mediocre is not the word I would have used.
Correct, but he doesn't have to become a great playmaker to have huge value for us. Forecheck with meaningful hits that change posession, a hound in the corners that retrieves pucks, solid defensively and score 20+ goals.
