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

Again, I really don’t see the issue with this kid going at the tail-end of the 2nd. He was tied for the lead in the SuperElit in scoring and led all U18s.
Here’s a list of guys that have either been 1 or 2 in SuperElit scorig over the past decade:
Jonattan Berggren
Lucas Elvenes and Joni Ikonen
Lias Anderssson and Jesper Boqvist
Jonathan Dahlen and Jonathan Davidsson
Filip Forsberg’s brother
William Nylander
Elias Lindholm and Burakovsky
William Karlsson
Ludvig Rensfeldt
Emanuel Astrom

Clearly the earliest two are no-names, but it’s obvious that the talent has gotten better and better as the years progressed. All of those guys are good-to-great prospects, and some are already solidified NHL contributors.

I don’t really see the issue here.

Edge said:
They pay attention to stuff. And, as has been discussed on here in the past, this is a board that is well known.
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I’ll be eagerly waiting for that phone call with a job offer from Gorton any day now :naughty:
 
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pblawr said:
Thanks for passing on. If you're comfortable sharing it, I think basically the whole board would be curious what he said about Jones too.
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Oh I’m sorry, I forgot about Jones. He didn’t say as much as he did about Henriksson, but said the organization viewed that pick as an absolute steal. He was highly scouted and can’t believe he fell as far as he did. Said his skating and edgework are great and if all works out, he could see him as a Torey Krug type.
 
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Edge said:
Exactly. Building as complete of a team, from top to bottom, is going to be essential. Right now, we have the potential to consider that as a real possibility. We have a legit potential franchise player, we have guys with legit first line potential, support potential, we have potential goal in net, etc.

But yes, when you look at the Edmonton's and Colorado's of the world that sometimes are used as cautionary tales, a big part of their failure is depth. Those two organization have struggled, immensely, to find talent outside of the first round. Beyond that, those teams have often struggled to produce NHL talent outside of the top 12 picks in the draft.

You need high-end skill and talent. But you also need support players, and guys who can get to the puck and get it out of the zone. You need forwards who can wear down the opposition so that your skill players can go out and do their thing.

The last few years represents a very balanced approach, and I support what they've done.
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Gorton starting addressing the depth before the high-end talent issue with the trades at last year’s trade deadline. Again, Gorton has accumulated vast amounts of both depth which is going to create competition for spots, as well as increasing the likelihood of success.
 
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offdacrossbar said:
i was. i loved that pick. he was my guy at 7 with who was left.

he had 2 of the 3 in spades.

he hasn't developed so far and im questioning whether the skating will hold him back.

we can be wrong. it happens.
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That’s what I said about Lias... and Stepan.

Stepan never improved his skating. I hope Lias does because he’s actually got a real good shot and I think he has more natural talent than Stepan.
 
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I mean, we've seen meaningful improvements from him each season. I still think his skating will hold him back from hitting his full potential, but I also don't think it'll stop him from being a decent NHL player in the Middle 6
 
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I dig the fact this kid just committed to hockey full time recently and that he almost made the Swedish National (maybe junior national) team in soccer.

Says a) he’s an upper echelon high motor athlete to be playing soccer at that level
B) if he has shown this much natural instinct and talent and development/progress with limited hockey time, it makes you think he’s got a ton of room for growth
 
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One Winged Angel said:
That’s what I said about Lias... and Stepan.

Stepan never improved his skating. I hope Lias does because he’s actually got a real good shot and I think he has more natural talent than Stepan.
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Here’s the thing about Lias. The rebuild being successful is not dependent upon him. In fact, his development is only important in regards to whether or not he becomes a part of this rebuild. The competition set up by adding so many assets is going to force players to up their level if they want to be a part of this organization.
 
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Edge said:
As a whole, I really can't complain about the 2018 and 2019 drafts. There will always be preferences, but I think there's balance between big upside and steady support guys.

There's the Kravtsov, Miller, Kakko, etc. upside, and there's the Robertson, Keane, etc. support talent. Truth be told, I am just as intrigued by that second group as I am the first.
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I agree. Its gonna cool to see which of the other kids turn themselves into rangers.

Just on D

Keane, lindgren, people shouldn’t forget crawley, gross, the Finnish guys.



Robertson looks the part.
 
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jas said:
Here’s the thing about alias. The rebuild being successful is not dependent upon him. In fact, his development is only important in regards to whether or not he becomes a part of this rebuild. The competition set up by adding so many assets is going to force players to up their level if they want to be a part of this organization.
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This is a great point and you’re the first person I’ve talked to that’s brought this up.

The only thing I’d argue is that at the time they drafted him, his success was vital to the rebuild. Now, he’s been passed by several prospects and it’s not nearly as much of an issue if he hits his ceiling or not.

It’s a testament to the work that Gorton and Bobrov have done.
 
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ecemleafs said:
If andersson stayed in sweden and put up big stats nobody would be saying hes a bust or disappointment to date. He played in the ahl and nhl instead. Hes still only 20 years old.
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Scheifele, Barzal, Couture, Marchand, Stone, Hoffman, Giroux, Pavelski, Gaudreau and many, many, many others who hit 50 points in a single NHL season, were still in juniors or college in the 2nd season after being drafted.
 
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One Winged Angel said:
This is a great point and you’re the first person I’ve talked to that’s brought this up.

The only thing I’d argue is that at the time they drafted him, his success was vital to the rebuild. Now, he’s been passed by several prospects and it’s not nearly as much of an issue if he hits his ceiling or not.

It’s a testament to the work that Gorton and Bobrov have done.
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Again, look how far the organization has come since the 2017 draft. It’s not Lias’ fault that the organization has added more higher-end prospects in Kravtsov, Kakko and Miller.
 
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jas said:
Here’s the thing about Lias. The rebuild being successful is not dependent upon him. In fact, his development is only important in regards to whether or not he becomes a part of this rebuild. The competition set up by adding so many assets is going to force players to up their level if they want to be a part of this organization.
Click to expand...

ecemleafs said:
If andersson stayed in sweden and put up big stats nobody would be saying hes a bust or disappointment to date. He played in the ahl and nhl instead. Hes still only 20 years old.
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jas said:
Again, look how far the organization has come since the 2017 draft. It’s not Lias’ fault that the organization has added more higher-end prospects in Kravtsov, Kakko and Miller.
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i think the nay-saying about Lias is premature.

he is not the flashy points-maker that Krav, Fil or Kakk may become,
but he can be the Clarke/Trottier/Yzerman/Toews reliable 2-way center so many good teams have at their core
 
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jas said:
Again, look how far the organization has come since the 2017 draft. It’s not Lias’ fault that the organization has added more higher-end prospects in Kravtsov, Kakko and Miller.
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I’m not sure if I was clear but I wasn’t saying that in a bad way about Lias. I think it’s great that he doesn’t have to worry.

1. Zibanejad has become a clear cut 1C.
2. Other forward prospects have shined and the acquisition of Kakko and emergency of Kravtsov gives them two potential franchise talents.
3. The defensive rebuild that’s happened in the last 18 months is nothing short of insanity.

It all results in Lias and the organization not having to break a single sweat worrying about his development and I think that’s the best case for everyone involved.

I’ve said that his developmental curve might be similar to Couturier, where we don’t see the offense for a bit and even if that’s the case, there’s more than enough depth to not have to worry.

The only thing I’d change is the center depth in the system. Lias is up in the air, Henriksson sounds great, but where is the legitimate blue chip center prospect? That can be addressed with time though, thankfully.
 
I’ve been reading up on the draft and how different people/writers/analysts ranked our picks, and this is the one that confuses me the most. I see people saying Henriksson is either a steal or a major reach. Interesting.
 
Buchnevich89 said:
I’ve been reading up on the draft and how different people/writers/analysts ranked our picks, and this is the one that confuses me the most. I see people saying Henriksson is either a steal or a major reach. Interesting.
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Seems like there's a big divide between people who think his size and skating will hold him back (and that he was dependent on his line mate), and those that don't. I know there are other takes in there but that's primarily what I've seen.
 
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