Photo: Joel Marklund / BILDBYRÅN /
H/W: 5’10” - 177lbs
Date of Birth: 2008-12-03
Shoots: R
Stats to Date: 7-12-19 (42 GP)
Viggo Björck has been a dominant force in Swedish hockey since he was a kid, tearing it up with the IFK Täby hockey school. Many might recall his DY-2 season, where he put himself on the map (publicly speaking) with his record-setting 98 points in 33 games in the J18 Region. He would join Djurgården’s hockey program the following season and set another all-time single season points record with 74 in 42 games. Björck made his SHL debut in his draft year season, but he struggled out of the gate. However, a strong second half would see him become Djurgarden’s 1C down the stretch and in the playoffs, as well as see him score the most points on the year for a U18 SHL player with 15. He has won Swedish junior championships at the U18 and U20 level, as well as winning gold in top Swedish u16 tournament TV-pucken. He’s medaled at the U17 WHC, the U18 WJC, and, most recently and most notably, won gold at the U20 WJC. This is the resume of a bonafide top prospect and winner.
Yet, the sentiment around Björck feels very lukewarm compared to other top prospects in the draft - even in a class starved for centers. If you analyze his tools, Björck still has the makeup of a top 6 forward and rock solid 2C. The hockey IQ is off the charts. He already reads the game at a level above the SHL. His ability to read the ice and anticipate play is on par with Ivar Stenberg, who might be a hockey genius. He rarely ever makes a poor decision with the puck. His playmaking ability and vision are already among the best in the country, finding seams and executing passes that few others can conceive of. His shot is quick and precise. His hands are quick, but his puck protection skills and processing speed are totally next level. Those are just his offensive tools. His two-way game is unbelievable, and not just for a 17 year old playing in one of the world’s top pro leagues. He competes like crazy, too. Physically resilient and strong on his feet. He plays far bigger than he is, especially along the wall and dirty areas.
“Bigger than he is” might be the catch for skeptics of Björck. At 5’9 (5’10 now, according to recent measurements), Björck is far below the size you’d want in an NHL pivot set to play tough offensive and defensive minutes. While he absorbs and plays through contact well, he still needs to put on weight. On top of that, Björck’s skating is just average, which is typically considered a negative trait for smaller forwards. Thankfully, that isn’t the death sentence it used to be. Players like Brayden Point have become the mold for smaller centers with average footspeed who improved their skating quite a bit - the best case scenario for Björck. Even if his skating doesn’t get to that level and he doesn’t grow to be 6’0 like his brother Wilson (or better yet, 6’2 like his father Jesper), betting against a prospect of Björck’s calibre is a big mistake. While he’ll undoubtedly slide on draft day due to size/speed concerns, Björck is one of the top center prospects in the draft with the potential to score 60+ points per season while playing elite two-way hockey day in, day out. Next steps for Björck is to return to Djurgården and continue to dominate in that 1C role, hopefully with a bit more meat on his bones and much improved explosiveness and quickness.
Skating
As an undersized forward, Björck’s skating has been under the microscope since before his draft year. He was never a burner in juniors and was clearly a step behind at the SHL level at the start of the season. As an undersized forward, that can be a killer. However, Björck has shown steady improvement since the 1st half of the season.
Björck is a quick, light skater rather than a powerful, explosive one. His first few steps could use a bit more explosiveness, but he’s tough to catch once he gets on his horse. He’s elusive in tight areas and can fight through pressure thanks to some great control from his edges and excellent balance and strength on his feet. Even in juniors, he has relied mostly on positioning and his processing speed to get to where he needs to be at the right time to make up for his lack of footspeed.
That same trend has continued in the SHL. While he’s added a touch of quickness in a straight line and looks much shiftier with the puck on his stick, the biggest reason for his improvement is that he’s been able to leverage his hockey IQ to compensate for his lack of separation speed. He can read and anticipate the pace of the pro game much better than before. He can quickly identify skating lanes to drive transition play and opportunities for odd man rushes has sped him up, so to speak. The longer the year has gone on, the more confidence he’s gained in his ability to push the pace with the puck on his stick and create offence at high speed. Björck has also developed quite the motor, a welcome addition to his cerebral off-puck game. Björck may undergo a similar initial “bumpy” period to start his NHL career, but once he adapts, his skating should not be a major concern. It may even grade out to slightly above average.
Clips
Here we see an example of Björck’s (#61 Blue) skating from earlier in the season. There’s some quickness, but he can’t really attack defenders with pace and gets pushed to the outside.
Also from earlier in the year. Happens to the best of ‘em, but figured I’d show it anyway. At the start of his shift, Björck (#61 Blue) gets caught flat footed in the neutral zone and has to scramble to get back and help out defensively. As you can see, his strides are short and not particularly explosive.
From a bit closer to the midway point in the season. The more Björck (#61 Red) adjusts, the deeper he’s able to penetrate into the offensive zone with the puck on his stick. Here, he gets all the way behind the net and halfway up the wall before getting taken to the boards by a defender.
From later in the year. Not only does Björck look much quicker, but he’s able to push the pace and attack defenders with speed. Here, he gets a pretty decent look at the net and fires a shot at speed.
From the U20 Playoff semis. Björck (#61 blue) treats us to a powerful, quick net-drive goal. This exists in his toolbox, but it remains to be seen if he can
Grade: 52.5
Shot
As a dual-threat to pass or shoot, Björck’s shot is an important part of his offensive arsenal. He’s got a surprisingly powerful snap shot, a lightning quick wrist shot and can locate them both wherever he wants. He’s made goalies look silly at the junior levels with his pre shot movement, often freezing them by waiting until the last possible second before making a quick fakeout and wiring the puck home. He’s also a plus goal scorer on the rush with his ability to both get shots off with speed or slow the game down and exercise a more controlled attack.
Like many high-end scorers, Björck is excellent at locating and making well-timed cuts to open ice. He works so well within small pockets of space with help from his quick hands and strength on his feet, able to create that extra little space needed to turn a good look into a great one. He’s no stranger to the netfront either. He can fight for position on the doorstep and clean up rebounds. That’s not his main thing, but he has scored in the SHL that way. Scoring “his” way at the pro level has been a work in progress, especially at 5v5. Most of Björck’s goals in the SHL have come off the rush or on the powerplay, so there’s still time for him to find that same level of control at the pro level at even strength in the coming years of development. There might be a 30 goal scorer here.
Clips
Here we see Björck (#61 Red) deftly knock down a clearing attempt at the offensive blue line, skating into space and ripping a shot for a nice goal.
Here is Björck (#61 Blue) attacking the slot off puck and getting rewarded. In the playoffs, no less!
Great goalscorers know how to find open ice. Björck (#61 Blue) sneaks into the low slot and parks himself there for over 5 Mississippis. He finally gets a feed but the pass is weak.
Wanted to highlight this goal as an example of how Björck (#61 Blue) can create offence with his hard work and smarts working in tandem. First, he harasses the opposing team, trying to break the puck out, creates a turnover, then reads that the whole opposing team was watching the puck before sneaking into prime real estate down low for a goal.
Björck (#61 Blue) proving that he is a dual threat on the power play. Nothing the goalie could do about that shot.
To top it all off, here’s Björck (#61 Blue) showing off a nice looking backhand from in tight. He’s got that in his bag, too.
Grade: 55
Skill
Björck’s skill with the puck has been a prominent feature of his game since long before his draft year, and has only gotten more practical and projectable since then. He looked like a god at the junior levels, attacking the heels of defenders and cutting through layers of defence like butter. He’s got fast hands, but not that twitchiness that you see from the true danglers in the hockey world. A part of that is that his footspeed isn’t elite, so his stickhandling rhythm is somewhat limited. Björck prefers to protect the puck rather than dance around sticks. He shields the puck with his frame and handles the puck from his hip pocket, sometimes even extending his reach far to the outside of his body to keep the puck away from defenders - all while maintaining control. Despite his size concerns, he leverages that puck protection and physical resilience to attack the middle of the ice and drive the net. He’s kept that up at the pro level as well. His passing touch and vision are immaculate, and his playmaking creativity is high-end. He’s been a powerplay weapon for every team at every level he’s played for in his career.
In his 1st year of SHL play, he’s developed a level of hard skill to go with his soft skill. Rather than flash and pizazz, Björck focused on managing the puck and controlling offensive situations with strong puck protection skills in tight and along the wall. He makes the quick and simple pass, still with an air of misdirection and still seeing passes that nobody else does. This has seen him earn more and more minutes in all situations, culminating in him assuming the role of Djurgården’s 1C down the stretch and in the playoffs. Hopefully, now that he’s got a year of pro experience under his belt, we’ll see him showcase some more creativity with the puck next year.
Clips
Björck (#61 Blue) showing off some great up ice vision and a nice passing touch from the defensive zone to spring a teammate for a partial break.
A lot of Björck’s (#61 Red) most effective playmaking moments in the SHL are similar to this. He hunts down the puck on the forecheck, pulls it off the wall, and looks to set up a man in the slot.
Björck (#61 Blue) with some heads-up down-low playmaking, picking the opponent's pocket and setting up a man in front.
Even though this is on the PP, there are few players who can hit this seam pass. Björck (#21 Yellow) is one of them.
Here’s Björck (#21 Yellow) directing the Swedish PP and quarterbacking some excellent high danger plays.
Here is Björck (#21 Yellow) stickhandling into the offensive zone, drawing in pressure before slipping a pass to a teammate for a goal.
Grade: 55
Smarts
Björck’s hockey IQ is one of his strongest assets and lends itself to every aspect of his game. It’s what makes him such a solid two-way player and a deadly on-puck threat. It’s what has let him climb up the rungs of Swedish junior hockey to now, where the SHL level looks slow to him.
Björck is a player who has a very process oriented approach to creating offence. He understands that to have the puck, you have to get it first. His ability to anticipate play and track pucks through chaos let him take the initiative and get pucks moving the other way before anyone else realizes what’s happening. It should serve him well at the NHL level. Before Bjöck touches the puck, he’s already scanned the ice several times and made a mental map of friend and foe. Once the puck is on his stick, he manages the puck with the patience of a veteran. He can slow the game down thanks to that same on-puck maturity and his processing ability lets him speed the game up. This gives his on-puck game a degree of deception and manipulation that few players in the draft class have.
Björck’s defensive game and off-puck reads make him a very valuable player even when he isn’t scoring. He’s constantly covering for his defencemen down low (and in front of the net, even), cutting off lanes and engaging puck carriers along the wall. He chases down puck carriers on the back check and picks their pocket with a surgical stick. When you combine his strong positioning and sneaky good stick with his excellent on-ice work ethic, you get a rare two-way package that you only ever see out of the best 2nd line centers in the NHL. As such, he should be given a fair shake as a center at the NHL level, even if teams might not see him that way.
Clips
An example of Björck’s (#61 Blue) two-way game, showing just how easily he can leverage his smarts to win pucks in defensive situations and get play moving the other way.
Good example of how Björck (#61 Blues) reads the ice and reads it quickly. Look at the route he takes from end to end here, and the little details along the way.
Björck (#21 Yellow) showing off some quick thinking after catching this puck on the doorstep in an awkward position, deciding to drive around the net for a wrap-around try.
Here’s Björck (#61 Blue) saving a goal in one end and carrying it all the way to the offensive zone to set up a chance for his team.
Björck (#61 Red) pushing the pace away from the puck and exerting his control in the offensive zone. If he always looks wide open and the puck seems to follow him around, it’s because he’s a few steps ahead of the game.
Grade: 60
Physicality/Compete
Size was a significant concern for Björck heading into his draft season. He could out-think and out-skill his opponents in the U20 Nationell with ease, but dealing with the level of intensity in the SHL is no small feat. The concerns were very real at the start of the year. Björck was struggling to play through the level of contact at the pro level and getting knocked off the puck far too easily. However, Björck has shown a degree of physical resilience (and even truculence, in some instances) that few similarly profiled forwards have, especially late in the season. He may get knocked around along the wall a bit, but he gets right back up and gives it back. He is a battler, and is no stranger to the netfront in either zone. Once he fills out a bit more and adds some more lower body strength, he should be fine even at the NHL level. Patrick Kane should be the model here.
Björck is a solid forechecker and has a surprisingly strong motor. He moves his feet and traps opposing puck carriers with his good stick and strong positioning on the forecheck. Since he doesn’t have the longest reach, he prefers to force the issue and close opponents out instead. He’s not a heavy hitter, but he should be able to leverage his smarts and skating to speed up the decision making process of opposing defencemen on retrievals.
On the ice, Björck plays the right way. Off the ice, Björck has the hunger to keep improving his game and the humility to get out of his own way and do what’s best for him in the long run. Don’t forget, he was sent down to the U20 Nationell for a period before the WJC to work on his game. Since coming back (with a gold medal in tow), he’s been Djurgården’s 1C and arguably their best player. He’s got the mentality of a consummate pro, and it should carry him far. For anyone still too concerned about his size, Björck’s father is 6’2, and his brother Wilson (VAN, 143rd OA 2025) is 6’0. Considering Björck still looks like a kid, I’d wager he’s not done growing. That’s the hope, at least.
Clips
Björck (#61 Blue) may be an undersized forward, but he is strong on his feet. He’s got great physical resilience at the pro level.
Did anyone get the plates of that truck? Björck (#61 Blue) staples this unsuspecting foe to the boards.
Björck (#61 Red) playing hard nosed hockey along the boards. Gets knocked down, but gets up again.
Here’s Björck (#61 Blue) getting his hands dirty down low and funnelling the puck to the slot for a scoring chance.
Björck (#61) sacrificing the body after a long shift defending a lead. Don’t ever question his compete level.
Grade: 55
OFP: 55.75
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.