Draft Watch: C Filip Forsberg
By Sean
The draft is only a couple of days away and due to a couple of different difficulties, I’m a little late to start looking at draft prospects. So, I’m just going to have to do two posts a day until the draft. I’ve already done a quick bio on Defenseman Mathew Dumba as a draft prospect when we did our Mock Draft here at Fansided. Next up, 17-year-old swedish center Filip Forsberg.
Forsberg is from Ostervala, Sweden. He was born on August 13, 1994. He is listed at 6’2″, 181 lbs and shoots right-handed. He is top-rated European skate according to NHL.com. If he is not the top-rated European skater, than he’s the second best European skate. He’s a very talented big center. The NHL Director of European Scouting, Goran Stubb, even compared him to Corey Perry when describing Forsberg:
"“A leader who shows by example — I would compare him to Anaheim’s Corey Perry a little bit. Has a nose for the net, and often scores the big goals. He’s a creative playmaker, good skater with fine straight-ahead speed. He’s a right-handed forward with an excellent shot and an effective two-way player with a great winning attitude. Filip’s a solid puck carrier with very good puck-handling skills; mature, good size and physically strong. On top of that, he’ll sacrifice himself to make the play.”"
This kid is dynamic skater with incredible offensive instincts. His skating stride is strong and fast that enables him very dangerous to defend. Another young guy in this draft that has great poise with the puck. His hands are soft and fast. Those hands help give him one of the best shots in this draft. He does need to beef up a little bit to fill out his frame, but he already is a very strong kid.
Forsberg plays for Leksand of the Swedish Elite League (SEL) and this past season saw him tally 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points in 40 games. That was the most action in the SEL he has seen yet. He has spent most of his time with the Leksand junior teams. However, Forsberg will spend next season over in Sweden and will probably stay in the SEL with Leksand. After that, he will then probably move to the NHL and I think he could come in immediately and be a top-two center for almost any team in the league. If he were to come to the NHL next season, and if the Forsberg were to fall to the Ducks, I think Forsberg could be the second line center. However, Forsberg could go as high as second or third, so the chance that he falls to the Ducks is not very high.
Here’s a couple of videos to fill you in on prospect Filip Forsberg.