I refuse to believe that everyone in the professional or journalistic world of scouting NHL draft prospects come to the same conclusion and are wrong in doing so. There are countless writeups stating along the lines of: "he's more competitive and engaged defensively than most prospects of his size and stature."
Meanwhile, Ogee will tell you that he's abnormally soft and an absolute sieve defensively.\
Listen, I'm not going to say that we drafted Mo Seider defensively, but enough people seem to believe that this kid competes hard and is a better defender than your traditional offense leaning defenseman profile.
Wheeler: "Though he’s not big, he’s athletic and he plays hard and engages in battles in the defensive zone with some sneaky strength. He’s got a good stick. He does a good job maintaining gaps and matching opposing forwards step-for-step skating backward, and times his close-outs and pinches effectively."
Pronman: "Sandin Pellikka lacks ideal NHL size for a defenseman but he competes well and doesn't shy from using his body to lay into opposing forwards. His defense will be his main question at the NHL level, but I think he plays hard enough to be a top-four defenseman."
Black Book: "What’s good for Pellikka, is that he is at least shown the ability to play a physical game when the play calls for it. That’s the main point. He doesn’t go out of his way to be nasty, he’s not a tenacious defender, but if he’s called upon to do it, he has shown he’s willing to try.
It’s fundamental to his game going forward for the following reason. When he initiates contact, he gets to control the fallout of that contact at a higher rate than if he was to be passive and instead absorb the contact. Pellikka is a very intelligent player, and his greatest defensive gift after his ability to anticipate defensive play is his ability to open up players out of contact so that he can simultaneously take them out of the play while identifying his highest percentage passing option.
Undersized defenseman need to be able to read the play well, and all Dmen have to take hits in order to make plays. They also have to be willing to physically engage even when they’re overmatched, and they must have the recovery tools necessary to get back into position. Pellikka checks a lot of boxes.
Speaking to his anticipation. He can anticipate both off transitional and cycle sequences, on both the strong side and weak side in advance. On his strong side, he’s quick to evaluate not only what the play driver is attempting to do after coming over Pellikka’s defensive line, but where the secondary option that he needs to cover is located as well.
This allows him to get in front of and ahead of give and go sequences so that he can intercept them or use his stick and body positioning to counteract them. Which brings us to our next attribute, which is his ability to process information rapidly off the puck. This is exceptionally important for this player, since it allows him to take advantage of his rapid pivoting and turning ability, which allows him to C-cut and close down his gap on proper angles, so that he can control
the geography of the rink against opposing wingers. We talk extensively about defenseman mitigating or reducing risk in a lot of our evaluations, and Axel is capable of that. But, there’s still limitations overall to his defensive upside.
He’s not as tenacious as Mikhail Gulyayev who will go out of his way to deliver a hit through an opponent as opposed to making a point of contact to close off a player like Pellikka usually does, and he doesn’t maintain the pace you see in fellow countrymen Tom Willander. Willander is busier than Pellikka, and overcommits at times on his defensive assignments while lacking structure in a way Pellikka doesn’t. Both of these defenders project to hold and stop a rush
with their frames at a better rate then Axel.
With that said, we still think he can hold up defensively and play meaningful minutes. The best aspect of Pellikka’s game is that he has the skill set necessary to reduce the total minutes he has to play in his own zone. You don’t need to rely on your defense and frame if your team is in control of the puck, and that’s the hallmark of Pellikka’s game."
EP: "I suppose this is the point where we’re supposed to tell you that becoming a more defensively sound player is going to be critical for Sandin Pellikka’s development, but that’s not really the case here, even if he is a smallish offensive defenceman. The Swedish blueliner is an engaged defender, particularly stout between the blue lines and along the boards."
