D Leonards Aleksandrs Grundmanis - Luleå HF J18, J18 Region (2027 Draft)

[JohnWillow]

Leonards Aleksandrs Grundmanis (Eliteprospect profile).

Came across a Latvian giant Leonards Aleksandrs Grundmanis. Still just 15-year-old (2009 year born), but already a tank (194cm and 97kg) defencemen who plays his first year in Luleå system.

4+0 in two games with U16 team.
2+8 in six games with the U18 team.

Over a PPG as a 15-year-old D in the U18 league is pretty good.

Anyone who follows Swedish youth leagues knows more about this guy?

Click to read more...

 

[CanadienShark]

What a name!

 

[fan1977]

I’ve watched him play a few games. Interesting player. A man against boys so far. After Christmas when Luleå will play in the j18 national league we will get a better picture. Decent skating and a good shot but again he is so physically dominating in the u16 matches it’s crazy.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Luleå has some success in recruiting latvians recently, im thinking about Vilmanis & Locmelis who both got drafted.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

 

[Namejs]

Leo comes from a dynasty of defencemen. His uncle was a prospect playing in OHL and USHL, while his father played in the top division of the Soviet league in the 80s.

I'm not sure about the level of opposition in U18 Region, but he seems to have exploded in offensive production out of nowhere this season.

I've noticed him before on eliteprospects, but never actually seen him play and he did not stand out in the stat sheets until moving over to Luleå. If he's a good skater and if he actually moves the puck well, then we're talking.

Hoping to see him play at the Latvian U18 WJC camp in Spring.

 

[Preds666]

Numbers are great, but you cannot draw any conclusions because the opposition is mostly super-crappy. Just look at the scores in his gamelogs below.

Works that way for U18 in Sweden. During fall they play 4 crappy (because of uneven teams) regional leagues. The top teams in each regional league then form two strong national leagues during winter/spring. So that is really the first proper indicator when it comes to scoring/stats at the top u18 level.