Gabriel Eliasson was left off the radar by many, including yours truly, as he wasn’t selected for the ‘TV pucken’ tournament in Sweden as a 15-year-old. Having heard his name around my school and among other players in the same age group, it is a name that I still kept in my mind even if I wasn’t actively scouting him.
Birthplace: Kungsbacka, Sweden
Date of birth: September 9, 2006
Shoots: Left
Position: Defence
Height: 6′7″
Weight: 205 lbs.
Team: HV71 U20 (J20 Nationell)
Having not been included in Frölunda’s development group, the big defender left the west coast of Sweden to join HV71 in the centre of the Swedish highlands. The change of scenery was good for the defenceman, who has excelled as a fierce, stable defender, in the U20 league and in the World Under-18s where he was an integral part of the Swedish team that finished with bronze.
The first thing that stands out with Eliasson is his size. The blue-liner is huge, weighing in at 205 pounds and standing 6’7” tall. One has to wonder how many of the 103 penalty minutes were due to him just being too big for the opposition.
Having gone the non-traditional route in Sweden’s development system, not being chosen among the top 60 15-year-olds in the area, means that there has been an uphill struggle for Eliasson. In a recent interview with Gothenburg Post‘s Johan Rylander, Eliasson confesses that he felt cheated, but it also brought out his competitiveness “I wanted to show them they were wrong. I started to practice more, and prove them wrong.”
Strengths
Eliasson literally stands out on the ice thanks to his frame, and it is easy to understand the interest he receiving around the NHL. He brings solid skating to the table, too. I know that he has spent time with figure skaters in order to improve his edge-work especially, and his overall skating technique. He still needs to work on his edges, his footwork in tight situations, and the ability to rapidly change direction to cover new areas, but there is a solid foundation there.
Another attribute that stands out is how young he is: six days shy of needing to wait until next year to get drafted. Age is something that should be considered a strength in the draft situation that Eliasson finds himself in.
Weaknesses
One has to wonder if the competitiveness found after not being selected for the regional team means that he battles with a ferocity that not many at that age possess, or if it is down to an overall competitiveness and physicality that will stay with his through his professional career. Either way, he will need to adjust to some level, because the number of penalty minutes he accumulated over the last season is incredible (103 in 36 games) and those only include one match penalty.
This brings us to the other end of the candle. He plays the physical game well, but the processing of the game might be a little lower. If he processed the game at a higher level he could have been a first-round pick. Eliasson acknowledges that he needs to get his studies in order before going to college in his interview with the Gothenburg Post as he confides that he’d prefer a year of high-school hockey before going to Michigan in the NCAA. This should give him the chance to build up his hockey IQ to another level, something that needs to be done for him to succeed down the line, because the trips to the sin bin are too regular at this time.
Preliminary Rankings
Dobber Prospects: #157
Hockey Prospect: #96
McKeen’s: #118
Projection
I get massive Lian Bichsel vibes from Eliasson. There are some really interesting tools there, but there are some boneheaded moves in there, too, when you sometimes wonder what the player was thinking. More often than not he plays on the line, but he does cross over it at times.
Being drafted out of Europe and choosing the NCAA route means that there will be no rush to sign the player. He can mature in one of the best NCAA programs in the U.S. for a four-year period before a decision needs to be made.
The strengths are things that every NHL team loves, and the reason why Eliasson will get drafted. He is a diamond in the rough, the question is the clarity of the gemstone. If he can work out the physical game and temper a bit of the ferocity that he plays with, then chances are that he will get a chance to play in the NHL at some point in his career.
