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Prospect Info: 22nd Overall Tobias Bjornfot, Defence

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Pronman posted an article on the Athletic: Pronman’s NHL prospect impressions: Who is already raising...

He discussed over 24 prospects who he says are "already raising their stock", who he's either seen first hand or heard good things about from scouts. Of course, our Bjornfot made the list:

Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot made the Kings as well after being the 22nd pick in the draft. When talking to scouts, the one thing that kept coming back is how elite his defensive play is already at 18 years old. His offense may never be high-end, but it’s good enough.
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I think the Norstrom comparisons still hold, but he's already displayed a higher offensive ceiling.

To me, a better comparison might be a less offensively gifted Josi. His skating and positioning remind me a lot of Roman, and he's got solid IQ and isn't afraid to try things.
 
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Article today in The Athletic Why everything that ails the Kings can be blamed on Taylor... that covered a number of topics. The last section was on Bjornfot. In essence Blake and MacLellan plan to keep him around for the foreseeable future. They don't want him sitting, but they also want to keep other people in the rotation, like Ryan.

The last part of the section was a quote from Bjornfot a few days after his NHL debut
“You must enjoy the moment,” Bjornfot said. “It’s not every day you have an NHL (debut). I watched the games on TV and was like, ‘He (McDavid) cannot be that fast.’ I played against him and he was like (whoosh).”
He added, smiling: “It was good experience.”
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I think he's going to be alright.
 
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There was some speculation from Hoven, for what it's worth, that they will keep Bjornfot around for the foreseeable future and stretch out his games played so he can be on the roster for a while, then possibly send him to the AHL until the World Juniors Tourney where he will play for Team Sweden. After that, could go back to the SHL, but they may depend on potential playing time over there. His SHL team is pretty good and they are not prone to playing 18 years olds on defense, so their intentions could come into play for what the Kings management does. Regardless, there are options.
 
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That makes sense. He earned his way onto the roster, but is having to adjust as things have ramped up. Unless he's getting guarantee minutes over there, the AHL option is better than the SHL one.
 
regulate said:
There was some speculation from Hoven, for what it's worth, that they will keep Bjornfot around for the foreseeable future and stretch out his games played so he can be on the roster for a while, then possibly send him to the AHL until the World Juniors Tourney where he will play for Team Sweden. After that, could go back to the SHL, but they may depend on potential playing time over there. His SHL team is pretty good and they are not prone to playing 18 years olds on defense, so their intentions could come into play for what the Kings management does. Regardless, there are options.
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I actually theorized this a couple days in the GDT when he first got scratched. Am I now a Kings Insider :)
 
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DAkings20 said:
I actually theorized this a couple days in the GDT when he first got scratched. Am I now a Kings Insider :)
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I bet some of our vets are being shopped around so as to make room for Bjornfot. Having him in Ontario playing in the AHL is a waste since the Kings have so many D-men there. Tobias will learn best playing against the best!Ditto for some of our forwards!
 
Fishhead said:
That makes sense. He earned his way onto the roster, but is having to adjust as things have ramped up. Unless he's getting guarantee minutes over there, the AHL option is better than the SHL one.
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I agree to an extent with AHL vs SHL...but now the Kings have 10 D-men in Ontario when everyone is healthy/back from suspension! Personally he's better off in LA...The Kings need to make some decisions and move some of our D-men...Martinez,Forbort come to mind with LaDue also a good possibility!
 
andys said:
I agree to an extent with AHL vs SHL...but now the Kings have 10 D-men in Ontario when everyone is healthy/back from suspension! Personally he's better off in LA...The Kings need to make some decisions and move some of our D-men...Martinez,Forbort come to mind with LaDue also a good possibility!
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I agree with you here, something's gotta give. Just too many defensive personnel.
 
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So many dmen in the organization and still no top 4 right hander stepping in any time soon. I have been wondering if you can maybe offer up clague in a deal for a good forward?
Now that you have bjornfot and anderson coming up, along with forbort and maybe hutton sticking around, he may be movable.
 
Sorry, we need to watch ineffective players get overpaid to suck so that management can push out being held accountable for results.

We get fed the line about prospects not getting minutes in favor of their development. The joke is that the only reason their development is on hold is because vets are handed jobs in the hope of trading them.

This management team are hall of famers at taking half measures with this franchise in order to keep their jobs / lifestyles.
 
Get TB out of the dumpster fire that is the Kings defense. Let him get a strong season under his belt in Ontario. By keeping him there the Kings don’t burn a year of his ELC. He can still come up and play 6 games at the end of the season in LA.
Kings can bring up (and down) Anderson and Clague - give them their “cups of coffee” and show them what they need to do to get to the NHL for next season.
 
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Choralone said:
Article today in The Athletic Why everything that ails the Kings can be blamed on Taylor... that covered a number of topics. The last section was on Bjornfot. In essence Blake and MacLellan plan to keep him around for the foreseeable future. They don't want him sitting, but they also want to keep other people in the rotation, like Ryan.

The last part of the section was a quote from Bjornfot a few days after his NHL debut


I think he's going to be alright.
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I read that and clicked expecting some time foil conspiracy on how it was Dave Taylor's fault still. Did a double take when I saw the name lol
 
Schmooley said:
So many dmen in the organization and still no top 4 right hander stepping in any time soon. I have been wondering if you can maybe offer up clague in a deal for a good forward?
Now that you have bjornfot and anderson coming up, along with forbort and maybe hutton sticking around, he may be movable.
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I know we need a Voynov type talent at top 4. But the Kings will have to wait until Jamie Drysdale is available. Don't like the idea of moving a youngster like Clague cause he's 21 and Hutton and Forbort are 26 and 27 respectively and will both be UFA at season's end and maybe looking for a raise. I like young and relatively cheap with Doughty making a tonne of money and with so many buyouts already and more probably coming(Carter,Quick...)
 
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Wow, that was fast. He looks great out there. It's definitely a good thing he is getting big minutes down there. Hopefully, Ontario can give us some hope for the future this year.
 
Great to see him settle so quickly. No pouting or anything like that (not that anyone expected it) and he immediately make an impact. Nice response from Grundstrom too.

Playing in the AHL seems to be the best thing for his development right now. So long all decisions are based on that I’ll be happy. I’m not worried about the log jam on the Ontario blue line, as most of those guys have no chance of getting close to the NHL. As long as the key guys get big minutes that’s all that really matters.
 
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Statto said:
Great to see him settle so quickly. No pouting or anything like that (not that anyone expected it) and he immediately make an impact. Nice response from Grundstrom too.

Playing in the AHL seems to be the best thing for his development right now. So long all decisions are based on that I’ll be happy. I’m not worried about the log jam on the Ontario blue line, as most of those guys have no chance of getting close to the NHL. As long as the key guys get big minutes that’s all that really matters.
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I wonder why Grundstrom is playing with Ontario.

There were enough opportunities to bench people in favour of him. He played one game..
 
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