Alexander Khovanov not making the Top 15 has created some controversy for Wild fans. But fear not, our next highlighted player is someone that Wild fans can all pile the disappointment on. Filip Johansson was taken with the 24th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. This shocked many Wild fans as Johansson was projected by most scouts to be taken late in the Second Round, or even in the Third Round. It is important to note that the disappointment in this pick can’t be blamed on the player himself, but rather on the former Front Office for picking a player that they likely could have picked up with a much later pick.
In stark contrast to Alex Khovanov, Johansson does not have a single glaring issue like Khovanov’s skating ability. Instead Johnasson is just an underwhelming player. Johansson is a Defensive D-Man by all accounts, so we have to look beyond his underwhelming points to give an honest assessment of the player. As a defensive minded player, Johansson rarely strays too far from the blue line in the Offensive zone. While this may not be exciting, he almost never gets burned into giving up odd-man rushes. He also plays a controlled game in his own zone, both in front and behind the net. Last season he showed signs of being able to get the puck out of his own zone in the SHL.
While these are certainly positive qualities, they are by no means elite. Considering this, on top of the fact that he does not produce offensively, there isn’t any reason to believe that Johansson has the quality to be a NHL player. Now 21, turning 22 in March, Johansson is still playing in Sweden. While the SHL is a good league, probably just about on par with the AHL, it is disappointing that Johansson hasn’t crossed the pond yet. Johansson even seems to be developing into a decent SHL player. That being said, Johansson’s style of play likely won’t transition into North America very well. The fact that he is 21 and does not have any experience on NHL sized ice is concerning. Johansson doesn’t have the size and physicality to shut down NHL players on the narrower surface. He also does not have the puck skills to be a modern defenseman that can move the puck up the ice all alone.
Being drafted in 2018, the Wild own the rights to Johannson until June, 1st 2022. That being said, it is not a sure thing that he ever wears even an Iowa Wild jersey. This is extremely disappointing coming from a 1st Round pick, even though he was taken at 24th.
I have never understood GM’s that go completely off the board in the 1st Round. It takes a great deal of arrogance in someone to think that they know better than every single scouting agency out there. Paul Fenton lasted only 13 months as GM of the Wild, and the Filip Johansson pick certainly did not work in favor of keeping Fenton. As a GM your main goal is obviously to create a winning roster, but there are ways to ensure that you stay on ownership and fans’ good side, even if you don’t bring immediate success to a team. One of those methods is not going off the board with the first pick you ever make as GM.
While the GM certainly should not just bend to what fans want when they have significantly more knowledge and information, they shouldn’t make such alienating choices without proving themselves. Often when fans criticize management it does not come from a fair place, but Wild fans immediately pounced on this pick as an awful choice, and they are proving to be right. As a GM if you are picking in the first round and stick to someone that is on the Top 10 available of the big board at your pick, and they don’t pan out, you have the ability to deflect and say “look everyone thought this was the guy, and we were all wrong”. But when you go off the board and it doesn’t work, you stand alone with all the arrows of angry ownership, media, and fans raining down on you at the same time.
Luckily the strange reign of Paul Fenton didn’t last long, current Wild management seems to be keen on taking the top available players, something that will be seen in the coming weeks and months of the Prospect Pond. Now that we’ve gotten Khovanov and Johansson out of the way, we will start to delve into the Top 15 with our upcoming articles.