Athletic: Bjorck & Gustafsson

[billybaseball]

A guy on Reddit was making a case for the Canucks to pick Bjorck in the 3rd slot. People who have watched him rave about him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/commen ... ck_at_3rd/

I don't understand why Viggo Bjorck isn't in the consideration for the 3OA pick. I think there's a solid chance he is the best player in the draft as a whole. First off, he has the best resume of any player not named McKenna in the draft:

Sweden U18 scoring record
Sweden U20 scoring record
Key WJC player at age 17 (a year younger than Stenberg and McKenna) he played almost the entire last 5 minutes and much of overtime.
Full-time SHL player at 17, 42-6-9-15 and 3-1-2-3 in playoffs.

I have watched him live with Djurgardens as well and my read on his game:
In my viewings he was equal or better than Eklund and Frondell, in terms of skating, puckhandling, physicality and finding space in a tight mens game. He's a super powerful skater, huge lower body, and protects the puck like Crosby. More than physically handles himself in mens game. In particular I watched him vs. Brynas where he scored and was one of the best players on the ice in a game that had 10-15 former or near future NHLers.

Last, and this shouldn't matter as much, but he's a center, and will be in the NHL. Caleb Malhotra was playing the BCHL last year. He would get CAVED playing in any of the levels (WJC, SHL) that Viggo played this year and for some reason he has more hype to go 3? To me this is pure insanity. The only, and literally the ONLY drawback is he is 5'9''. IMO he is the clear-cut 3rd best player in the class. But like I said, his power and strength protecting the puck against men should make up for this in his career, Crosby is quite short as well but very strong.

So I'm asking, besides his height, why would we not take this player at 3rd? How is he not a better prospect than a PPG OHL defenseman (Reid), a hyped Ekblad type who makes lots of bad reads (Verhoeff), or a 1.3 PPG OHL center playing on the highest scoring team in the league (Malhotra)? No one in the draft outside of McKenberg have any sort of statistical comps. And I would bet good money that Viggo blows Stenberg's production out of the water next year in the SHL at the same age.

That poster’s read on Bjorck isn’t wrong IMO. As I said earlier in this thread, I bet he’d be challenging for 1st overall if he was closer to 6 feet tall. I do think he’s going to measure in closer to 5’10” than 5’9” at the Combine next month but I guess we’ll see.

He was the 1C and arguably Sweden’s best player at the WJCs (either him or Stenberg. Both were excellent and drove the bus for the Swedes) as a 17 yr old, helping to lead them to their first Gold in a very long time.

He’s now doing quite well on Sweden’s Sr team and I bet he ends up making the cut for their World Championships team, which again, would be a pretty insane accomplishment for a 17/18 yr old.

One thing I pay attention to in the draft is age. A lot of the top players this season are late 2007 births. Stenberg for example missed last year’s draft by just a couple weeks. So he and a lot of other players in this draft are 1 development year ahead of Bjorck. McKenna, Stenberg, Reid and Smits are all late ‘07s. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re overrated or anything but there is a ton of data out there that would point to older players in the draft being overdrafted a bit and younger players being underdrafted a bit. This happens because we naturally confuse physical development with longterm potential and the younger ones are oftentimes discounted. That 6-11 month difference may not seem like a lot, and won’t really matter once these guys are in their mid-20s and beyond, but it does absolutely matter at this age, as shown by years and years of data.

I wouldn’t take Bjorck at 3 and he absolutely is undersized but he also absolutely has all the tools and brain to be a star in this league. Higher potential than a good number of guys that’ll go ahead of him.

How would you compare him to Malhorta? I know Tim isn't a fan of Malhorta, but wondering how you see him. And I realize we have little chance of drafting him without moving up quite a bit.

I have Malhotra at 5 and Bjorck at 6 but I could easily flip flop them. I also question Malhotra’s longterm offensive potential a bit. He seems be getting hyped as a potential or even likely 1C or even a potential elite superstar stud but I just don’t see that. I see a very likely high quality 2C.

Bjorck absolutely has higher potential than Malhotra but Malhotra is a safer bet because he’s 6’2”. It sucks but that’s the hard truth when you’re considering an undersized player. But obviously undersized forwards are less of a risk than undersized d-men.

Malhotra is skilled and I really like his compete level but take him off a loaded Brantford team and I bet the hype on him would be a bit less. TBH, when looking at translatable NHL skills, I really don’t see much separation between Malhotra and Lawrence. Malhotra has a couple inches of a size advantage and he “proved it” more than Lawrence this season but so often we see when we look at drafts 5-10 years later, a lot of where players are drafted ends up being based on situational circumstances like what team a player played on and how much icetime/opportunity they got. I’ve said it countless times but that’s why I really value translatable skills more than points. These kids are playing in vastly different settings (jrs, college, Euro jrs, Euro pro, high school etc) that it’s extremely hard to compare apples to apples. And some are early bloomers and then stall and others are late bloomers. The best players at 17/18 tend to more or less still be the best players at 25+ but it’s a very inexact science with a ton of exceptions in both directions and truly determining which kid is the best given the vastly different leagues they all play in during their draft year makes is near impossible to get it exactly right when you have to choose after their 17/18 yr old season.

I think Lawrence is a sleeper and could be there at 11. He is the prime example of how much all these drafting experts make their predictions based on points and if he had 5-6 more points with Boston he probably would still be in the 5-10 range. He's young, switched 1/2 way through the year, played on a team that struggled offensively that has a coach that is a D first coach and played him on their 3rd line. I'd be happy with any of the 3 centres if the Blues are able to pull it off.

Had he stayed in the USHL instead of going to BU halfway through the season then he'd top 5 pick hands down. He's one of the youngest players in the draft and was talked about being possible 1-1 before transferring to BU. Was really good at u-18's too although Team Canada underperformed.

[HighStick]

I'd prefer Belchetz at 11.
I'm hoping Nash takes Bjorck at 10.

[HighStick]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

[skilles]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

[HighStick]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

I see your point. I remember watching Peru and thinking man he gets moved off the puck too easy or he just got overpowered along the boards. I agree he was lacking in some skill sets but those guys were both touted as PP Specialists and neither one delivered in my opinion. Get back to the Cup team defense. Big, mobile, hard to get around, good at blocking shots defense. All I want a Dman to do is throw the puck at the net. Im not looking for the next Macinnis.

[skilles]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

I see your point. I remember watching Peru and thinking man he gets moved off the puck too easy or he just got overpowered along the boards. I agree he was lacking in some skill sets but those guys were both touted as PP Specialists and neither one delivered in my opinion. Get back to the Cup team defense. Big, mobile, hard to get around, good at blocking shots defense. All I want a Dman to do is throw the puck at the net. Im not looking for the next Macinnis.

I'd certainly like to have more guys like Petro, Jaybo, and Parayko, and/or guys like Hughes and Makar or even Krug in his prime really, many players fall off/have health problems after 30 not just small ones.

When we had the run in 2019 Krug was the number 2 on the team we beat in 7 and had 18 points in 24 playoff games for them.

[HighStick]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

I see your point. I remember watching Peru and thinking man he gets moved off the puck too easy or he just got overpowered along the boards. I agree he was lacking in some skill sets but those guys were both touted as PP Specialists and neither one delivered in my opinion. Get back to the Cup team defense. Big, mobile, hard to get around, good at blocking shots defense. All I want a Dman to do is throw the puck at the net. Im not looking for the next Macinnis.

I'd certainly like to have more guys like Petro, Jaybo, and Parayko, and/or guys like Hughes and Makar or even Krug in his prime really, many players fall off/have health problems after 30 not just small ones.

When we had the run in 2019 Krug was the number 2 on the team we beat in 7 and had 18 points in 24 playoff games for them.

I remember him during the run. He was really good on that Boston team. He never made any difference on this Blues team though. I never liked the signing. I feel like he got signed here because of that 1 hit he put on Thomas after Perron roughed him up. I'd take 6 Paraykos over 6 Krugs everyday of the week.

[skilles]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

I see your point. I remember watching Peru and thinking man he gets moved off the puck too easy or he just got overpowered along the boards. I agree he was lacking in some skill sets but those guys were both touted as PP Specialists and neither one delivered in my opinion. Get back to the Cup team defense. Big, mobile, hard to get around, good at blocking shots defense. All I want a Dman to do is throw the puck at the net. Im not looking for the next Macinnis.

I'd certainly like to have more guys like Petro, Jaybo, and Parayko, and/or guys like Hughes and Makar or even Krug in his prime really, many players fall off/have health problems after 30 not just small ones.

When we had the run in 2019 Krug was the number 2 on the team we beat in 7 and had 18 points in 24 playoff games for them.

I remember him during the run. He was really good on that Boston team. He never made any difference on this Blues team though. I never liked the signing. I feel like he got signed here because of that 1 hit he put on Thomas after Perron roughed him up. I'd take 6 Paraykos over 6 Krugs everyday of the week.

Well sure, so would I but I'd also take 4 paraykos and 2 prime Krugs over 6 of either one of them.

[BleedingBleu]

I think the size thing while A factor is a little exaggerated, its seems like every time a small guy don't make it its all about size when the truth is most don't make it at every size.

Someone ask "didn't we learn from Peru and Krug"

Reality is Krug was undrafted and would go pretty high in a redraft and Peru played more NHL games than many d picked before him that were much bigger.

Just because A guy is small and can't make it at the NHL level doesn't mean its because he is small. Peru did not fail to score on the pp because he was small, his skills just did not translate just like most big/huge guys skills just are not good enough at the NHL level.

I said that and I was referring to Defensemen specifically. No matter how you chop it up I just don't like small Defensemen. I like em big with some mobility. I don't mind smaller forwards.

Well I don't think its completely unwarranted but I think it is exaggerated.

Like when I watched Peru I didn't think "he is to small"....he just wasn't quite good enough at the right things at the NHL level. There were 4 bigger d taken before him that still have not played an NHL game to this day.

I'm not advocating that we go take a bunch of small guys but every time a guy that it 5'10" doesn't make its not just because he is small, Peru didn't not make it because he is small any more that Quinn Hughes isn't one of the best hockey players in the world because he is small.

I see your point. I remember watching Peru and thinking man he gets moved off the puck too easy or he just got overpowered along the boards. I agree he was lacking in some skill sets but those guys were both touted as PP Specialists and neither one delivered in my opinion. Get back to the Cup team defense. Big, mobile, hard to get around, good at blocking shots defense. All I want a Dman to do is throw the puck at the net. Im not looking for the next Macinnis.

I'd certainly like to have more guys like Petro, Jaybo, and Parayko, and/or guys like Hughes and Makar or even Krug in his prime really, many players fall off/have health problems after 30 not just small ones.

When we had the run in 2019 Krug was the number 2 on the team we beat in 7 and had 18 points in 24 playoff games for them.

Little ball of hate on this sequence…

Disclaimer: The video above is hosted on Youtube, and has not be reviewed by the staff of the Post-Dispatch.

[Ty Webb]

A guy on Reddit was making a case for the Canucks to pick Bjorck in the 3rd slot. People who have watched him rave about him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/commen ... ck_at_3rd/

I don't understand why Viggo Bjorck isn't in the consideration for the 3OA pick. I think there's a solid chance he is the best player in the draft as a whole. First off, he has the best resume of any player not named McKenna in the draft:

Sweden U18 scoring record
Sweden U20 scoring record
Key WJC player at age 17 (a year younger than Stenberg and McKenna) he played almost the entire last 5 minutes and much of overtime.
Full-time SHL player at 17, 42-6-9-15 and 3-1-2-3 in playoffs.

I have watched him live with Djurgardens as well and my read on his game:
In my viewings he was equal or better than Eklund and Frondell, in terms of skating, puckhandling, physicality and finding space in a tight mens game. He's a super powerful skater, huge lower body, and protects the puck like Crosby. More than physically handles himself in mens game. In particular I watched him vs. Brynas where he scored and was one of the best players on the ice in a game that had 10-15 former or near future NHLers.

Last, and this shouldn't matter as much, but he's a center, and will be in the NHL. Caleb Malhotra was playing the BCHL last year. He would get CAVED playing in any of the levels (WJC, SHL) that Viggo played this year and for some reason he has more hype to go 3? To me this is pure insanity. The only, and literally the ONLY drawback is he is 5'9''. IMO he is the clear-cut 3rd best player in the class. But like I said, his power and strength protecting the puck against men should make up for this in his career, Crosby is quite short as well but very strong.

So I'm asking, besides his height, why would we not take this player at 3rd? How is he not a better prospect than a PPG OHL defenseman (Reid), a hyped Ekblad type who makes lots of bad reads (Verhoeff), or a 1.3 PPG OHL center playing on the highest scoring team in the league (Malhotra)? No one in the draft outside of McKenberg have any sort of statistical comps. And I would bet good money that Viggo blows Stenberg's production out of the water next year in the SHL at the same age.

That poster’s read on Bjorck isn’t wrong IMO. As I said earlier in this thread, I bet he’d be challenging for 1st overall if he was closer to 6 feet tall. I do think he’s going to measure in closer to 5’10” than 5’9” at the Combine next month but I guess we’ll see.

He was the 1C and arguably Sweden’s best player at the WJCs (either him or Stenberg. Both were excellent and drove the bus for the Swedes) as a 17 yr old, helping to lead them to their first Gold in a very long time.

He’s now doing quite well on Sweden’s Sr team and I bet he ends up making the cut for their World Championships team, which again, would be a pretty insane accomplishment for a 17/18 yr old.

One thing I pay attention to in the draft is age. A lot of the top players this season are late 2007 births. Stenberg for example missed last year’s draft by just a couple weeks. So he and a lot of other players in this draft are 1 development year ahead of Bjorck. McKenna, Stenberg, Reid and Smits are all late ‘07s. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re overrated or anything but there is a ton of data out there that would point to older players in the draft being overdrafted a bit and younger players being underdrafted a bit. This happens because we naturally confuse physical development with longterm potential and the younger ones are oftentimes discounted. That 6-11 month difference may not seem like a lot, and won’t really matter once these guys are in their mid-20s and beyond, but it does absolutely matter at this age, as shown by years and years of data.

I wouldn’t take Bjorck at 3 and he absolutely is undersized but he also absolutely has all the tools and brain to be a star in this league. Higher potential than a good number of guys that’ll go ahead of him.

How would you compare him to Malhorta? I know Tim isn't a fan of Malhorta, but wondering how you see him. And I realize we have little chance of drafting him without moving up quite a bit.

I have Malhotra at 5 and Bjorck at 6 but I could easily flip flop them. I also question Malhotra’s longterm offensive potential a bit. He seems be getting hyped as a potential or even likely 1C or even a potential elite superstar stud but I just don’t see that. I see a very likely high quality 2C.

Bjorck absolutely has higher potential than Malhotra but Malhotra is a safer bet because he’s 6’2”. It sucks but that’s the hard truth when you’re considering an undersized player. But obviously undersized forwards are less of a risk than undersized d-men.

Malhotra is skilled and I really like his compete level but take him off a loaded Brantford team and I bet the hype on him would be a bit less. TBH, when looking at translatable NHL skills, I really don’t see much separation between Malhotra and Lawrence. Malhotra has a couple inches of a size advantage and he “proved it” more than Lawrence this season but so often we see when we look at drafts 5-10 years later, a lot of where players are drafted ends up being based on situational circumstances like what team a player played on and how much icetime/opportunity they got. I’ve said it countless times but that’s why I really value translatable skills more than points. These kids are playing in vastly different settings (jrs, college, Euro jrs, Euro pro, high school etc) that it’s extremely hard to compare apples to apples. And some are early bloomers and then stall and others are late bloomers. The best players at 17/18 tend to more or less still be the best players at 25+ but it’s a very inexact science with a ton of exceptions in both directions and truly determining which kid is the best given the vastly different leagues they all play in during their draft year makes is near impossible to get it exactly right when you have to choose after their 17/18 yr old season.

Thanks for the thoughts on the three centers. I think any of the three would work for us, but not sure any of them make it to 11

[Ty Webb]

A guy on Reddit was making a case for the Canucks to pick Bjorck in the 3rd slot. People who have watched him rave about him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/commen ... ck_at_3rd/

I don't understand why Viggo Bjorck isn't in the consideration for the 3OA pick. I think there's a solid chance he is the best player in the draft as a whole. First off, he has the best resume of any player not named McKenna in the draft:

Sweden U18 scoring record
Sweden U20 scoring record
Key WJC player at age 17 (a year younger than Stenberg and McKenna) he played almost the entire last 5 minutes and much of overtime.
Full-time SHL player at 17, 42-6-9-15 and 3-1-2-3 in playoffs.

I have watched him live with Djurgardens as well and my read on his game:
In my viewings he was equal or better than Eklund and Frondell, in terms of skating, puckhandling, physicality and finding space in a tight mens game. He's a super powerful skater, huge lower body, and protects the puck like Crosby. More than physically handles himself in mens game. In particular I watched him vs. Brynas where he scored and was one of the best players on the ice in a game that had 10-15 former or near future NHLers.

Last, and this shouldn't matter as much, but he's a center, and will be in the NHL. Caleb Malhotra was playing the BCHL last year. He would get CAVED playing in any of the levels (WJC, SHL) that Viggo played this year and for some reason he has more hype to go 3? To me this is pure insanity. The only, and literally the ONLY drawback is he is 5'9''. IMO he is the clear-cut 3rd best player in the class. But like I said, his power and strength protecting the puck against men should make up for this in his career, Crosby is quite short as well but very strong.

So I'm asking, besides his height, why would we not take this player at 3rd? How is he not a better prospect than a PPG OHL defenseman (Reid), a hyped Ekblad type who makes lots of bad reads (Verhoeff), or a 1.3 PPG OHL center playing on the highest scoring team in the league (Malhotra)? No one in the draft outside of McKenberg have any sort of statistical comps. And I would bet good money that Viggo blows Stenberg's production out of the water next year in the SHL at the same age.

That poster’s read on Bjorck isn’t wrong IMO. As I said earlier in this thread, I bet he’d be challenging for 1st overall if he was closer to 6 feet tall. I do think he’s going to measure in closer to 5’10” than 5’9” at the Combine next month but I guess we’ll see.

He was the 1C and arguably Sweden’s best player at the WJCs (either him or Stenberg. Both were excellent and drove the bus for the Swedes) as a 17 yr old, helping to lead them to their first Gold in a very long time.

He’s now doing quite well on Sweden’s Sr team and I bet he ends up making the cut for their World Championships team, which again, would be a pretty insane accomplishment for a 17/18 yr old.

One thing I pay attention to in the draft is age. A lot of the top players this season are late 2007 births. Stenberg for example missed last year’s draft by just a couple weeks. So he and a lot of other players in this draft are 1 development year ahead of Bjorck. McKenna, Stenberg, Reid and Smits are all late ‘07s. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re overrated or anything but there is a ton of data out there that would point to older players in the draft being overdrafted a bit and younger players being underdrafted a bit. This happens because we naturally confuse physical development with longterm potential and the younger ones are oftentimes discounted. That 6-11 month difference may not seem like a lot, and won’t really matter once these guys are in their mid-20s and beyond, but it does absolutely matter at this age, as shown by years and years of data.

I wouldn’t take Bjorck at 3 and he absolutely is undersized but he also absolutely has all the tools and brain to be a star in this league. Higher potential than a good number of guys that’ll go ahead of him.

How would you compare him to Malhorta? I know Tim isn't a fan of Malhorta, but wondering how you see him. And I realize we have little chance of drafting him without moving up quite a bit.

I wouldn’t say I’m not a fan…i think any other year, he’s probably middle to late first rounder. I’d rather roll the dice on Bjorck if we are trying to position ourselves for a center.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth. Just remembered that you aren't real high on him. Hopefully one of Bjorck or Lawrence are there at 11, presuming the D are all taken.