Personally, I've got Lundkvist clearly ahead of Hajek. I think you could make a case that Lundkvist is a better player today:
- He's scoring at ~3x the rate that Hajek is. Based on Brannstrom more than doubling his scoring rate when he went from the SHL to the AHL and Lias scoring at basically the same rate in the AHL that he did in the SHL last year, despite playing with a shoulder injury in the AHL, I think you could make a case that the SHL is actually the tougher league to score in.
- This isn't just about the ability to contribute in the offensive zone. The puck skills, passing skills, and ability to read plays that it takes to produce points in lower pro leagues are the skills defensemen need to control possession, transition the puck to the forwards, and avoid turnovers in their own end in the NHL. In the games I've watched, Hajek has struggled with that in the AHL. The added potential Lundkvist has to contribute in the offensive zone is just gravy on top of that.
- If Hajek were head and shoulders above Lundkvist defensively, I think you could make an argument that they're even, but it's not clear to me that that's the case. Hajek is the 2nd or 3rd defenseman on a below-average AHL team while Lundkvist is playing a significant role on the 1st place SHL team. It's not clear to me that being the 2nd or 3rd best D on a team that will likely miss the AHL playoffs is dramatically better than that.
Then you add in the fact that Lundkvist is over 2 years younger and he's the clear pick for me.
Add Reunanen, who I would also have ahead of Hajek. They're less than a month apart, so age isn't a factor.
- Reunanen is the #1 defenseman on a top 5 team in Liiga. He's got great puck skills, has scored at almost a ppg in his past 10+ games, and is developing at a very fast rate.
- Hajek is the #2 or #3 defenseman on an AHL team that won't make the playoffs. He's struggled to move the puck and has had very limited offensive production.
Personally, it seems to me like Reunanen has moved ahead of Hajek this year, and when you factor in the higher upside due to more skill and a faster rate of progression too, Reunanen seems to me like the better prospect.
The one counterpoint I'll make is that a lot of Rangers defensemen seem to score at very low rates in the AHL. Pionk, McDonagh, Skjei, and DeAngelo all maintained or increased their scoring rates when they went from the Pack to the Rangers. But Hajek's never had a ton of offensive skill and I've watched enough Pack games to know that his struggles with the puck have been legitimate.
