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Prospect Info: Vilmer Alriksson: 107th Overall 2023 Draft (Djurgadren Jr.) - LW

Love

Love

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Feb 29, 2012
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I’m not saying he’s Johan Franzen, but I just want to use him as an example. Franzen was drafted as a 3rd rounder at age 24. I can’t imagine Franzen at age 17-18 was anything more than a massive body with some skill but totally raw and beyond what would even be considered a project.

The point I’m trying to get at is that I hope the Canucks have enough patience to even give the guy a chance because it may take him until his early/mid 20s to get there if ever. With that being said I have no issue with the pick. If you’re that big and have some skill too, it’s worth using a pick on a guy like that.
 
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AHLdepth

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Sort of interesting to note that we invited the captain and alternate captain of the Guelph Storm and then Alriksson is drafted by Guelph....surely not a coincidence?
 
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CanucksMJL

CanucksMJL

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alternate said:
And personally I always give teenagers who are that tall a bit of runway to improve their skating. To get that tall you have to grow fast, and usually takes a bit of time for strength and coordination to catch up.

I liked seeing him in a key spot on the PP unit...not sure if was #1 or #2 unit, but nice to see him being used as more than just a big body at the edge of the crease.
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With these super tall kids I'm curious as to the timeline of their physical growth. If a kid was average height until he was 17 and had some massive 6 inch growth spurt I'd be more excited about their upside than the kid that had a huge spurt when he was 12 and only grew an inch or 2 over the next 6 years. That is assuming all else is equal.
 

F A N

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CanucksMJL said:
With these super tall kids I'm curious as to the timeline of their physical growth. If a kid was average height until he was 17 and had some massive 6 inch growth spurt I'd be more excited about their upside than the kid that had a huge spurt when he was 12 and only grew an inch or 2 over the next 6 years. That is assuming all else is equal.
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Is there an NHL player who was "average height" for a hockey player at 17 that had like a 6 inch growth spurt? Usually those late growth spurts happen to people who were below average height like Chris Tanev who was 5'3" in Grade 11. Tanev was like 5'9" when he was eligible for the draft.

I think it comes down to the style of play. The player with a late growth spurt likely developed the "skill" part of the game. The player who had an early growth spurt could be more adept at playing a physical game, being a net front presence, playing an power forward game, and or scoring off the rush. A lot of it comes down to skating.

All else being equal, you would expect the player who has always been the tallest player to know how to protect the puck with his body and being a net front presence. The other stuff is more variable I think. Just because you're big doesn't mean you're good at winning board battles.

Alriksson isn't just tall though. He listed as over 211lbs which is a solid frame. With Alriksson it is concerning if he had an early growth spurt that what he's being told is that he needs to use his size and reach to his advantage. That just means we are dealing with a raw prospect. You would expect that someone who is taller and bigger than everyone else at a young age would know how to use his size and reach.
 

VanJack

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The kid looks like he has some skill and guys that big always seem to look a little slower on the ice than those 5'9" buzz-saw players.

He looks to have some skill carrying the puck through the neutral zone, and would seem to have a decent one-timer. I wonder if there's any chance his junior team or the Canucks eventually could try him at center?

A guy 6'6' and 220 would be a nice add down the middle if he could ever pull it off.
 
clay

clay

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Aug 25, 2005
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Nucker42 said:
What kind of point totals are we looking for for a d+1 in the OHL for him to be considered a legit prospect?
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God said:
Probably ~0.6 PPG, which sounds weird, but we have a pretty good comparable in Toropchenko Alexey Toropchenko - Wikipedia

Obviously also depends on how good Guelph is (they're not) and what his usage will be.
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I get the comp, but despite Toropchenko being an NHLer, 0.6 PPG as a D+1 player is extremely underwhleming and makes for a very high bust probability. Would hope for 1.0 PPG or higher to show promise.
 
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MS

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Nucker42 said:
What kind of point totals are we looking for for a d+1 in the OHL for him to be considered a legit prospect?
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clay said:
I get the comp, but despite Toropchenko being an NHLer, 0.6 PPG as a D+1 player is extremely underwhleming and makes for a very high bust probability. Would hope for 1.0 PPG or higher to show promise.
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Yeah, I'd hope for point-per-game numbers in the 60-70 point range and consider that pretty satisfactory. Anything more is gravy, and if he's only putting up 35 or 40 points that doesn't bode well.
 
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sting101

sting101

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Feb 8, 2012
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This seems like good news....i like the gamble of this pick. Realize this is a long term project and it depends on his role also but yes PPG should be the goal and standard we judge a superior physical specimen by if he's gonna score at all at the next levels.

Would like them to give Scott Walkers kid Cooper a look as well. if he's anything like the old man that could be an interesting signing.

Lol....just google searched and found out that Abby has already signed him. Like it
 
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Nucker101

Nucker101

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For a player like him this is good. He needs decent minutes and to play in a smaller rink. Out of the 4th round picks that I disliked, he's probably the one I've become okay with despite my post on page 1 of this thread lol. The other picks still look bad to me, and yes I'm aware of the longshot odds of 4th round picks, but I'd still prefer upside shots if I'm playing a longshot lottery anyway.
 
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