Article: Wild Have Decisions On Where To Best Develop Liam Öhgren

[Justin Hein]

View full article

[Beast]

As far away from Dean Evason as possible.

[mnfaninnc]

Personally, I think bringing him over to the A is the best for both parties. While the culture may be different in Iowa, gaining chemistry with his new team I think would trump that. We have some Swedish players already over here, and that could help (The Wall, Simon Johansson). 

For certain, a training camp and developmental camp over here is a must. In the SHL, their players remain very disciplined and puck possession is a huge part of their strategy. Learning here to take bad angle shots and use tips and screens and play differently may be in his best interest. We saw earlier this year with both Goose2 and The Wall that they had to become aware of those low % shots that they weren't used to seeing in Sweden. Both improved on that this season.  

It's the same for the forward, he's got to see the game differently. While Ek did figure it out here, he was not even close to being an offensive force when he arrived. And, Iowa could use his scoring. Ohgren is also going to add muscle this offseason as he has every offseason. He's large enough to take the pounding. He will get in more games here. It's time, bring him over.

[mnfaninnc]

Which is a step up? An AHL head coach or an NHL assistant coach?

Could we snag Bruno as an AHL head coach or does his year in Florida pretty much make him need an NHL head coaching job?

[Pewterschmidt]

" Öhgren also experienced a drop with a dreadful start to the regular season. His point production ended up worse than the season before despite a year of growth. "

This is what concerns me about Ohgren.  And what he's shown in the Pewter eye test.  Past performance is best predictor of future results.  His playoff tear is an outlier IMO.

I'm not trolling Ohgren because he's the next great hope to save this organization, but the early returns are not inspiring confidence.

[Beast]

28 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Which is a step up? An AHL head coach or an NHL assistant coach?

Could we snag Bruno as an AHL head coach or does his year in Florida pretty much make him need an NHL head coaching job?

I recently saw him on a list of trendy head coaching candidates for NHL jobs.

As you mentioned, his year in Florida.  He’s the associate head coach right now in Jersey who just beat a good Rangers team in the playoffs.

I’d be shocked to see him going down to the AHL.  He’ll be an NHL head coach in short order, if not this offseason.

[mnfaninnc]

3 minutes ago, Beast said:

I’d be shocked to see him going down to the AHL.  He’ll be an NHL head coach in short order, if not this offseason.

I guess when you are changing coaches, the 2nd shoe sometimes dictates the 1st one. If your guy is available, jettison the guy already there as he, too, may be a placeholder!

[Protec]

Get the elite Swedes on the Bombardir/Hendricks/McLeod player development program ASAP. Inject the grit baby! I’m getting excited thinking about elite Swede grittiness now...

[bean5302]

I'd be pushing to play him in the AHL. It's by far the best way to get him used to NHL style hockey and develop his game in a way that's best suited to help the Wild. So long as the Wild set goals/expectations which are clear, measurable and achievable, Ohgren's confidence should increase. Hitting the goals is proof you're achieving and allows you to trust in the process.

[mnfaninnc]

12 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

It's by far the best way to get him used to NHL style hockey and develop his game in a way that's best suited to help the Wild.

This is an underrated statement. SHL players are going to be trained to perform for team Sweden in international competitions. We NEED to be selfish and concentrate on the above statement.

Also, I think Ohgren probably turns out to be a Nino type of player, and, honestly, I miss his type of game.

Edited May 2, 2023 by mnfaninnc

[Justin Hein]

On 5/2/2023 at 11:39 AM, Pewterschmidt said:

" Öhgren also experienced a drop with a dreadful start to the regular season. His point production ended up worse than the season before despite a year of growth. "

This is what concerns me about Ohgren.  And what he's shown in the Pewter eye test.  Past performance is best predictor of future results.  His playoff tear is an outlier IMO.

I'm not trolling Ohgren because he's the next great hope to save this organization, but the early returns are not inspiring confidence.

It's possible that it's nothing more than a hot streak, but typically prospects with his 200-foot reputation don't fall off as badly as he did last year. He only played 36 regular season games prior to his 17 playoff games , so I think it's important to include these playoff games to at least some degree when evaluating his performance this season. 

[Tony Abbott]

An update on Liam Öhgren's contract status, noted in the article:

*EDITORS NOTE: Since this article was published, new details on Öhgren's contract situation came to light. From Michael Russo of The Athletic on May 3, 2023:

"Now that Ohgren’s Djurgardens team lost Game 7 and won’t be promoted into Sweden’s top league next season, Ohgren becomes a free agent and would likely sign with an actual Swedish Hockey League team. After that, the Wild would officially loan Ohgren to that team later this summer."

He is not bound to play for Djurgardens or Allsvenskan should he stay in Sweden. Hockey Wilderness regrets the error.