Minnesota Wild Prospect 2011-12 Primer #5: Jonas Brodin

Your number five choice is now defenseman Jonas Brodin!

Newly drafted Brodin was not the name many were expecting at #10, but after a few months, it seems Brodin has started to grow on a few of us.

While I doubt he is the next 'Lidstrom', he has plays that smart defensive game that we've seen work very well in Jared Spurgeon. No longer is being a bruising, hard-hitting defenseman the only way to defend your own zone. It doesn't hurt though.

Anyway, now onto out #5 prospect!

Strengths

Extremely smart with the puck. Reads the play very well and can make smart decisions based on those reads. Very poised with the puck; a very calm and effective defender. A swift skater; extremely agile and great mobility. Moves the puck efficiently and effectively. Makes good use of his stick to break up plays and quickly transition the play from defense to offense. Good NHL frame.

Weaknesses

His safe style of play have some wondering if Brodin has any offensive upside. Needs to bulk up and fill up his body to become an NHLer.

Summary

With flashier names like Ryan Murphy and Sven Baertschi still on the board, when Chuck Fletcher called out Jonas Brodin, I was in minor shock.

Then I remembered who Brodin was and felt comforted.

You don't see many 18-year old defenders playing regular minutes on a championship winning team in the SEL, one of the best European leagues. Not only that, he was relied on shutting down opposing forwards.

He is a safe, smart, effective, and efficient defender that has tons of poise and plays with tons of patience. In other words, he plays like a veteran in the SEL. Now, if he wants to become a veteran in the NHL, he needs to bulk up and add some muscle in order to play against powerforwards like Rick Nash or Ryan Getzlaf.

Future

Rookies in the SEL don't often get tons of minutes playing key situations for their teams. As such, Brodin saw very little powerplay time and focused mainly on his safe, defensive game.

This year, he will return to Farjestad a more confident player and perhaps, might develop his offensive game as he will start to focus on his offense while polishing off his defense.

It is hard to see what will become of Brodin, but projecting a two-way defenseman who's strength relies in the transitioning the puck and plays #1-2 defensive minutes, isn't too far out of the question.