Noon Number for 8-2-2013: 25

Jonas Brodin- Defense- Sweden

World Junior Championships

It's not about the points with Brodin. His value as of now resides primarily in his positional defense, and his excellent puck-moving, which are both enabled by his amazing speed. So, now, I'm going to tell you that he notched a total of three points in 12 games at the U-18s, and 4 points in 6 games at the main WJC. That doesn't seem very impressive, right?

Sweden finished Silver in both U-18s, and Gold in his only WJC. And as someone who watched the 2012 tournament games (but only on TV), that guy was always on the ice.

World Championships

Outlook for Sochi

To make a roster this tight you need two things: To get an opportunity, and to play well enough to take advantage of that opportunity. Brodin will have a bit more of an opportunity now, Edler has been suspended for the first two Olympic Games for an illegal hit in the World Championships, which may downgrade Edler's candidacy quite a bit. It's up to Brodin, now. He has the potential to play well enough to make the roster, he will at least need to play as well as he did last year, if not make the adjustments you'd expect a sophomore make to improve further, in order to put himself in a fine position to make the Olympic squad.

If he makes it, he may be on the bottom pairing, but I expect Sweden to have full confidence in Brodin whenever they throw him out on the ice.