Hated that Gonchar pick. They do that every draft take some euro pussy defensemen who never ends up playing.
Like this pick better. Mikkel Eriksen Going from the runner-up, let’s talk about the actual youngest player in the draft class in Mikkel Eriksen. The Norwegian is a natural center and is wired like one too. He is remarkably mature in his position and managed to stand out on the Norwegian u18 team amidst play never really going through him. He’s a natural two-way player and never really seemed out of place in any zone. Chances for him were scarce, but he regularly found his options by being adept at getting pressure off of him. Whether it was using his edges or making a quick slip pass to a teammate, Eriksen naturally developed play with ease. Eriksen especially shined when he got the rare opportunity in the offensive end. He was regularly able to find looks and really drove the bus for a Norway team that largely focused on wingers attacking off the rush to create. As if it was natural, his ability to find the center of the ice continued to remain a strength and he managed to test goalies regularly by forcing play to shift direction constantly. If anything, Eriksen is center driven to a fault, and will struggle when he has to play outside his role when play breaks down or a teammate is out of position, which was an unfortunate regularity in the hockey he finds himself in. But having a less ephemeral position in Färjestad may lead to Eriksen having more freedom to explore the way he approaches the game and most importantly more chances in the offensive zone. An interesting prospect for a player who feels like hasn’t shown us his best yet.
