We are pleased to bring exclusive scouting and game reports from Sweden courtesy of McKeen's Director of European Scouting, Joakim Grundberg.
The first report features Alexander Wennberg of Djurgarden right after returning with a silver medal from the World Juniors.
Wennberg's stock for the 2013 NHL Draft rose significantly thanks to a strong performance at the tournament, however he understandably looked drained back in the Allsvenskan, Sweden's second division.
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Alexander Wennberg (C, 2013), Djurgarden (Sep 22-94)
Did not give a good performance at all, despite starting the game very well .. displayed excellent speed on his skates and created a scoring chance off the rush on his first shift .. however that was followed by a couple of rough shifts in which he was sloppy with the puck and caused a turnover in his own zone that led to a goal against .. he was also on the ice for the second goal against .. only played a limited role after that rough stretch in the 1st period .. he looked tired both mentally and physically after the U20 WJC - and gets a pass on this one .. should be a late 1st or early 2nd round pick, in my mind.
Marcus Bohman (D, 2013), Djurgarden (Oct 3-93)
A solid, mobile skater .. controls the puck well, gives and receives passes well.... experienced some problems with his gap control a few times, getting beaten on the outside .. tends to do too much in possession - holds onto the puck and gets into trouble .. did not get much icetime, especially in the second half of the game .. he will okay, albeit he did appear to be a bit nervous as this was his first game in front of a packed home building .. needs to play more and gain confidence in his abilities .. will require a couple of years in the Allsvenskan, but has the potential to be a solid defenceman in SEL (Elitserien).
Victor Berglind (D, 2013), Djurgarden (Oct 2-92)
Plays on the top pairing together with Erik Gustafsson .. the duo play a lot and in all situations .. moves the puck to his forwards in a productive way, delivering hard, crisp passes .. demonstrates good vision of the ice in front of him .. controls the puck well - and hits the net with his shot from the point .. a solid skater with decent size .. did okay in terms of his defense and positioning .. could be more active and aggressive defensively however .. shows the potential to be a top-4 defenceman in SEL, but will need to gain experience.
Christopher Fish (RW, 2013), Orebro (Mar 25-93)
A big, hard-working winger .. strong board and corner player .. goes hard in to the corners and likes to finish his hits .. plays with a little bit of an edge .. scored a pretty goal on a nice toe-drag move and a good wrist shot .. absorbed a dirty hit in the second period and hurt his knee, only to return a couple of shifts later .. needs to work on his speed and is also a bit limited when it comes to offensive creativity and skills with the puck .. likely a solid bottom-six player in SEL.