N4L wrote: asq2 wrote: N4L wrote:Haha, yuuup, it is.
Anyways, Backstrom is the next great Swede along with Karlsson so good for Washington, huge signing.
OEL and Adam Larsson.
We'll have to see how
Hedman and MPS progress as well.
But yeah, great signing.
Not entirely sold on him either. I said during The WJC's in Ottawa Karlsson was the better player by a mile and so far that is bang on.
Yeah, Hedman hasn't progressed as anticipated thus far. The mental part of the game isn't quite up to snuff. The physical tools are out of this world, though, and he's logging mega-minutes for Tampa already. It's hard to write him off at 18.
I'll say this, though: If OEL plays every game like he's played in the two most recent matches I've seen him in, he's the best of the three and - when Lidstrom retires - might be the best Swedish defenceman in the world apart from Kronwall.
He's not quite as talented as Karlsson but he's just as fast, bigger and uses his body much more effectively. His IQ is through the roof, too; in these past two games I don't think he's made a single wrong decision in either zone (same can't quite be said for Karlsson who has tried some unsuccessful Orr-like rushes and break-away passes and who was partially at fault for the Czech game-winner today, though it's got to be frustrating trying to initiate offence when your team's best forward is Michael Nylander). Of course, Karlsson had that stretch prior to his injury where he was making the right decision every time as well.
Anyway, I'm jealous of Phoenix (met Ekman-Larsson at the Carleton-Sweden friendly and he seems very down-to-earth) and I'm convinced that OEL's the guy Murray was referring to when he said there was another Euro defenceman in the 2009 draft who they thought could be better than VH.
But Karlsson, Cowen and Wiercioch will have to suffice.
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