NHL Draft 2012 Prospects: #13 Hampus Lindholm

The draft, hands down, is the best time of the hockey season. Maybe I'm just saying that because the Wild haven't been seen post-season action since 2008, but that is besides the point.

So, on June 22nd-23rd, we will all sit down in front of the television/computer and watch the draft. But if you are wondering, "who's who", then you haven't been reading HW because thats my job.

So without further ado:

Introducing our 2012 NHL #13 Draft Prospect - Hampus Lindholm

Accomplishments & Awards:

Prospect Jersey (What Would They Look Like In a Wild Jersey?):

Summarized Scouting Report

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

HW Projection:

Video Evidence:

Where Does He Fit In The Wild?

Again and again, the Wild need an offensive defenseman, and Lindholm probably has the highest offensive potential out of all the defensemen in this draft.

Conclusion

This is where the draft starts to get interesting. My top 12 prospects seem to remain unchanged from the beginning of the season but afterwards, its the wild west.

Because of the large uncertainty with the rest of the draft class (whether that be safe but low upside or high upside but risky), I have Lindholm sneaking into the #13 spot. "Who is this guy, I've never heard of him" you might be asking.

Lets break it down why I feel he should be rated as high as I have him for the Wild. For one, we love our Finnish and Swedish prospects! I love em, and Flahr seems to love em.

Two, he has huge upside. At this point in the draft, you have a mixture of safe prospects with low upside and risky prospects with huge upside. In Lindholm's case, I saw a mobile defenseman who is extremely smart with the puck offensively. Think Jonas Brodin, but instead of defense, its offense.

Let's not forget he is around 6'3 196lbs, meaning after maybe two years of steak and pasta, he could be at an impressive 6'3 210lbs. While not physical, with that type of frame, he should be able to withstand the grind of NHL play.

His defensive game is very much in question, especially his gap control. However, when I see an offensively gifted defenseman who is slick with the puck, extremely mobile, and is a magician running the offense, I feel his defensive game can only improve as he puts on muscle to his large frame.

Again, the Wild love prospects with experience playing against men (e.g Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin, Johan Larsson) and Lindholm has that. He also has a good chance at representing Sweden in the next WJC, and that is always a plus.

To sum up, you have a raw, offensive wizard, who has tons of room to fill out and has every chance to play against top players in the world. With Jonas Brodin becoming a star in Sweden, imagine a future Wild defensive duo of Jonas Brodin-Hampus Lindholm; both mobile, both smart, both with amazing puck and stick skills, but each having specialty in different zones of the ice.

Seems to be a match made in heaven.

Special thanks to HFBoards, Future Considerations, The Hockey Writers, TSN, OHLProspeccts and The Scouting Report