Prospect Info: Karl Henriksson, C, 2nd round, 58th overall, 2019

[darko]

so much here.

when i wrote that im saying to you, this organization feels they see something in this player that others may not see and they will go " against the grain" and chose this player too high.

not sure its an organizational flaw- like where hes ranked on their big board or a feeling type pick or perhaps even a pick using different criteria like interviews or testing data that they rank higher than actual metrics or production.

to me, it means this guy was chosen as a project. obvious holes, solid effort, motor, character.

however, lacking skating and size and a shot means his upside is rather limited and so his ceiling is rather low but his floor is high.

hes a "safe pick" but to me its a flawed pick. ok prospect taken waaayyyy to high for my liking.

He's an excellent skater. Needs to work on endurance however.

 

[offdacrossbar]

He's an excellent skater. Needs to work on endurance however.

hes not. excellent isn't a word i would use when discussing his skating. lacks burst and top end. hes effective up and down ice so hes not a poor skater. hes just far from excellent.

i see his skating as something like LA's. flawed. both lack twitch skating.

but he has other holes too and some of those holes are large.

where he was picked. don't like this pick at all.

but still hoping im wrong on this one.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

This is going to be a fun few years...

 

[Thirty One]

so much here.

when i wrote that im saying to you, this organization feels they see something in this player that others may not see and they will go " against the grain" and chose this player too high.

Imagine how much the Rangers could save on scouting if they fired all their scouts and picked up a copy of the Hockey News draft preview.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

this pick makes no sense. we reached. 58th over all ??? wow. do not like. this leaves me with the same taste as last years lindbom pick.

imo, this is a limited ceiling type player with work to do.

the skating isn't there yet and the overall offensive upside is rather limited. "smallish slower guys" to me means safe pick who pays the 3C. i don't see the upside here. isn't considered a scorer but more of a support player who is an "effort" guy and who certainly pays attention to all 3 zones... but in round 2 ? no.

hes another intangibles player. i wont say lias andersson but hes gonna have a similar career path I'm afraid. its early but there are some holes here that have me concerned on a developmental basis.

i hope this isn't another one of those " were smarter than everyone else" picks were famous for.

not a fan of the player nor where he was chosen. I'm sorry.

ODC grade D

1. How much of Henriksson have you seen?
2. This whole "we're smarter than everyone else" is never used when we look at reaches like Skjei, Kreider, Chytil, Kravtsov


This whole narrative is based on rankings by fans, bloggers and reporters. A reach or steal isn't really that when you look at a team's list. Every team has draft selections that look bad if you use draft rankings as the golden standard (FYI: It isn't)

 

[offdacrossbar]

Imagine how much the Rangers could save on scouting if they fired all their scouts and picked up a copy of the Hockey News draft preview.

my concern isn't that this isn't a good prospect

my concern is where the player was chosen

much like the lindbom pick last year, this one has me shaking my head.

i don't like this player at 58OA

 

[offdacrossbar]

1. How much of Henriksson have you seen?
2. This whole "we're smarter than everyone else" is never used when we look at reaches like Skjei, Kreider, Chytil, Kravtsov


This whole narrative is based on rankings by fans, bloggers and reporters. A reach or steal isn't really that when you look at a team's list. Every team has draft selections that look bad if you use draft rankings as the golden standard (FYI: It isn't)

i saw him a lot centering raymond and holtz. we all did.

he was one of the euro forwards i figured we would have interest in. i was right.

i have eyes. his skating is so-so. hes small. his ceiling, imo, is rather low.

beyond that, don't like him 58OA

 

[Thirty One]

i have eyes.

Weird flex.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

this pick makes no sense. we reached. 58th over all ??? wow. do not like. this leaves me with the same taste as last years lindbom pick.

imo, this is a limited ceiling type player with work to do.

the skating isn't there yet and the overall offensive upside is rather limited. "smallish slower guys" to me means safe pick who pays the 3C. i don't see the upside here. isn't considered a scorer but more of a support player who is an "effort" guy and who certainly pays attention to all 3 zones... but in round 2 ? no.

hes another intangibles player. i wont say lias andersson but hes gonna have a similar career path I'm afraid. its early but there are some holes here that have me concerned on a developmental basis.

i hope this isn't another one of those " were smarter than everyone else" picks were famous for.

not a fan of the player nor where he was chosen. I'm sorry.

ODC grade D

You seem to not know anything about him and then put "ODC grade D" as if you do.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

"I have eyes"

The same eyes that lusted for the likes of Enver Lisin, Joel Armia, Alex Khoklachev, Jet Morin, etc.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

i saw him a lot centering raymond and holtz. we all did.

he was one of the euro forwards i figured we would have interest in. i was right.

i have eyes. his skating is so-so. hes small. his ceiling, imo, is rather low.

beyond that, don't like him 58OA

It's a borderline 3rd round selection. Some people always act as if there are sure-fire stars we passed on. At 58, that's just not the case

 

[Edge]

Henriksson is a lot of things, I don't know if I'd call him safe.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

I'd call Henriksson one of our biggest risks. In the second round with talent on the table we swung for a small cerebral player who has the potential to be special but really needs to bring it all together in the SHL. Frolunda is not an easy team to crack and I would expect him to spend some more time in SuperElit first, making this a pretty big gamble.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

What does this mean?

It's become a HF Board term used by a handful of people on here and it makes as much sense to me today as it ever did.

Yeah and the guy giving out his draft grade on a player he knows nothing about while doing so in the third person shouldn't deride anyone for thinking they're smarter than they are.

 

[kovazub94]

this pick makes no sense. we reached. 58th over all ??? wow. do not like. this leaves me with the same taste as last years lindbom pick.

imo, this is a limited ceiling type player with work to do.

the skating isn't there yet and the overall offensive upside is rather limited. "smallish slower guys" to me means safe pick who pays the 3C. i don't see the upside here. isn't considered a scorer but more of a support player who is an "effort" guy and who certainly pays attention to all 3 zones... but in round 2 ? no.

hes another intangibles player. i wont say lias andersson but hes gonna have a similar career path I'm afraid. its early but there are some holes here that have me concerned on a developmental basis.

i hope this isn't another one of those " were smarter than everyone else" picks were famous for.

not a fan of the player nor where he was chosen. I'm sorry.

ODC grade D

Sorry but it reads a little (a lot) as incoherent rumbling. Don't understand where you got limited offensive upside and skating issues followed by the conclusion that the smallish size leads to 3C ceiling.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen him play outside of his WJC stint, but it’s hard to argue against the kid based in his performance there. His season stats are impressive for superelit play, and most ppg+ players in their draft year end up being good NHLers. Someone else posted that his numbers this season also weren’t heavily influenced by Raymond, and that he created plenty for his other linemates.

His tournament play showed that he not only had the ability to keep up pace with two elite prospects, but he adeptly made plays for them and found openings in defenses when they had the puck. For all intents and purposes, he’s a very skilled, smart player that’s going to be a part of an elite program in the SHL. If he can become an offensive 3C in the future, I genuinely don’t see the problem with this pick. He’s a draft and stash player that we won’t start seeing a lot of professional news about for another 2 years outside of the WJC.

 

[offdacrossbar]

Sorry but it reads a little (a lot) as incoherent rumbling. Don't understand where you got limited offensive upside and skating issues followed by the conclusion that the smallish size leads to 3C ceiling.

imo, he lacks the top speed i like to see in a centerman. hes an effective player. in the u18's he had some pretty excellent line mates.

he doesn't shoot much- his shot is fairly weak, as hes more of a set up guy and thats fine. but hes not a shooter or a real scoring threat yet.

hes a 2 way player who has a developed mature type defensive game. the 3c opinion is his floor which i see as probable

i see some LA comparables here

hes small and not fast. not the combo i like

at 58OA there were better choices

too high for this guy

i call em like i see em.

i like robertson pick and zach jones both better. those 2 were taken in good value territory.

this one i give a

 

[Edge]

I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen him play outside of his WJC stint, but it’s hard to argue against the kid based in his performance there. His season stats are impressive for superelit play, and most ppg+ players in their draft year end up being good NHLers. Someone else posted that his numbers this season also weren’t heavily influenced by Raymond, and that he created plenty for his other linemates.

His tournament play showed that he not only had the ability to keep up pace with two elite prospects, but he adeptly made plays for them and found openings in defenses when they had the puck. For all intents and purposes, he’s a very skilled, smart player that’s going to be a part of an elite program in the SHL. If he can become an offensive 3C in the future, I genuinely don’t see the problem with this pick. He’s a draft and stash player that we won’t start seeing a lot of professional news about for another 2 years outside of the WJC.

Interestingly enough, the Raymond influence was never a big deal for me. I think he demonstrated he's a capable prospect without Raymond.

It's always a fine line we walk with these kids. On the one hand, it can be easy to punish them for playing with other talented players. On the other hand, sometimes we go the opposite way when they play with less talented players and don't put up gaudy numbers.

 

[Fireonk]

hes a 2 way player who has a developed mature type defensive game. the 3c opinion is his floor which i see as probable

I dont know how you can think he has a 3C floor and be upset with this pick. But, realistically no one picked at this spot has a 3c floor anyway. At this pick you are in the most likely not to make it at all territory.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Interestingly enough, the Raymond influence was never a big deal for me. I think he demonstrated he's a capable prospect without Raymond.

It's always a fine line we walk with these kids. On the one hand, it can be easy to punish them for playing with other talented players. On the other hand, sometimes we go the opposite way when they play with less talented players and don't put up gaudy numbers.

I’m starting to feel the same way about late/early birthdays and how much stock is put into that

 

[offdacrossbar]

I dont know how you can think he has a 3C floor and be upset with this pick. But, realistically no one picked at this spot has a 3c floor anyway. At this pick you are in the most likely not to make it at all territory.

he was taken at 58

hes a nice looking prospect who has some upside for sure

he was just taken too early imo. there were better options would have preferred doro there.

thats all

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

So far, I’ve seen people say he’s both a home run swing AND a “low upside” prospect.

Which is it? It cannot possibly be both.

 

[Fireonk]

he was taken at 58

hes a nice looking prospect who has some upside for sure

he was just taken too early imo. there were better options would have preferred doro there.

thats all

Im just pointing out that your use of floor was weird here. Did you mean ceiling? Because I think even the people that like him realize that he can certainly be a candidate never to make the NHL.

Not really questioning your assessment. I love that you give your opinion even if it differs from others. I love that you respond to people's arguments against your opinion and own up when you've been wrong in the past unlike certain other posters that tend to offer hot takes and leave when questioned.

Thats what a message board should be about.

 

[Edge]

So far, I’ve seen people say he’s both a home run swing AND a “low upside” prospect.

Which is it? It cannot possibly be both.

IMO, he's a swing. I don't see him as being a "safe" pick. With his style and size, this isn't a kid who strikes as me as sticking as a third line center if he doesn't make it as a second line center.

The size is what it is. The skating is going to need some work on the first step and efficiency to help his cause.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

IMO, he's a swing. I don't see him as being a "safe" pick. With his style and size, this isn't a kid who strikes as me as sticking as a third line center if he doesn't make it as a second line center.

The size is what it is. The skating is going to need some work on the first step and efficiency to help his cause.

To add to this, I think this is a kind of boom bust prospect. He could develop into a top6 NHLer like some sort of Swedish Zuccarello, or he won't make it at all and will carve out a fantastic career in the SHL. After taking an almost sure fire top 4 dman at 49 this is exactly the sort of pick we should be making at 58 especially with the value we got later on in Zac Jones. Henriksson will be a fun prospect to follow at the very least, think Robin Kovacs before "the accident".