Getting to know 2016 seventh-round selection Arvid Henrikson

The Montreal Canadiens made a trade with the Winnipeg Jets to acquire a seventh-round pick in 2016, and used it to select Arvid Henrikson out of Sweden.

After taking three left-handed defencemen earlier, the Canadiens took a right-hander with the seventh-round choice. Henrikson is a big player, at 6’5", 209 pounds, and is seen as more of a stay-at-home defenceman.

He uses his size well to be a physical presence in his own zone, clearing the front of the crease. His stick skills are limited to throwing the puck out of the zone to alleviate pressure, and he doesn’t possess great puck-handling ability.

Despite that, he did register 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 21 games in Sweden’s third tier of junior hockey before moving up a rank. In the Allsvenskan level, he added two goals and eight assists in 15 games with AIK’s under-18 team.

Henrikson has a lot of work to do to put himself on the prospect radar for the Canadiens. He will have to take some very large steps in his development to have a chance of playing professional hockey, let alone at the NHL level. But that’s what seventh-round picks are for: players who may put everything together and progress at an exponential rate to become a good player.

Scouting

Hockey Prospect Black Book

Henriksson has good size and gets around the ice reasonably well for his frame. We liked his competitiveness and the physical game in his own zone. His positioning in front of his own net is quite good as he consistently looks to clear the crease-area. He knows how to position his body to push and keep forwards to the outside and is good at tying up their sticks. He tracks the play well and keeps good gaps in his own zone. He has played well on PK utilizing those same assets and also clears the zone with authority, making himself quite useful there. In our limited viewings his first pass was rather average and he didn’t exhibit a lot of offensive upside.

Rankings

Future Considerations: NR

ISS Hockey: NR

Hockey Prospect Black Book: NR

DraftBuzz Hockey: NR

Bob McKenzie: NR

Henrikson can probably realistically be placed at the lower end of the organizational depth chart right now, but could rise up the list if he begins to add some skating and stick-handling abilities to his game. The chance that he becomes an NHL player are very slim, but it wouldn’t be out of the question. Time will tell if this ends up being a forgotten selection at the end of the 2016 draft, or a insightful decision by the scouting staff.