If he falls to the late teens early 20s Isles should trade up for him

Yeah, I thought Dal Colle would be a 30-ish scorer on Tavares wing for years. His skating was an issue I clearly undervalued. And I clearly overvalued his hockey-IQ. I'm probably biased coming from Sweden, but my pick was William Nylander, I prayed Garth would pick him...

Yeah, and we can't underestimate he was so young when he came over. As a Swede myself, I know how different life is adjusting to North America at a young age. + He was injured for a season when he got drafted. We (in Sweden) thought he would be picked as a late 2nd or early 3rd rounder.

Dal colle had a great D+1 , players who make that jump almost always go on to be top 6 players. I think Bridgeport turned him into a grinder and didn’t really focus on developing his offensive game. He has a great shot, can’t get it off at the NHL level because of confidence/timing.

Absolutely and we have a wildcard in Lane Lambert who knows this. I hope there's a chance.

Yeah and don't forget how many shots he hit the post with in his early shots at the NHL level. He's still got an amazing shot, but as you said, he was developed into a grinder role. Feel bad for him honestly,

At one point I remember seeing Holmstrom considered for the top 15 (before he got hurt , after his great D-2 season) . I heard the reason why Holmstrom came to Bridgeport at 18 YO was because he would have been sent to juniors in the SHL. I think playing in Bridgeport at 18 hurt his development and accoridng to Scott wheeler from the athletic, isles had him put on weight which hurt his skating. Do you think his skating looks better this season?

Yes I actually got some intel in the Holmström decision, as a hobby journalist. He wanted- and wants to play in the NHL, been his goal and dream ever since he could remember. He didn't want to get loaned out to Vita Hästen in HockeyAllvenskan last year, he actually asked Lou if he could stay and just work out with the NHL team - he thought he would learn more by that. - Hence why he stayed with them in the bubble (that was by his request, not Islanders, by my sources, which is legit).

His skating is much better, not by pace, but with regards to him acclimatizing to the North American style. He worked this summer on being faster on smaller areas = better pace, not fast in regards to being fast over longer ice.

Holmstrom was with the isles in the bubble two years ago?

Yes he was. Just to learn, and that thought him a lot. Especially Nelson, based on what he said to Swedish media actually. I edited some things the last post, look that up.

That’s the most important thing - I’d rather a player play fast with mediocre skating than skate fast and play slow. Nick Leddy is an elite skater but he doesn’t play with pace.

Holmström's always been a great talent, but with a lot of injuries and "what ifs" in Sweden. At a young level, he dominated so much that people compared him to Peter Forsberg, even if that's unjust of course. I and other people are just concerned about his development after all the injuries, he's looked slower and more cautious...

Yeah for sure. BUT his skating issue is the biggest issue, if he could work on that he's a legit NHL player in the makings without a doubt because his hockey-IQ always been very good.

I think it was Trotz who mentioned that he’s gaining more confidence after being injury free for awhile. Hopefully he can continue to build and take more risks without worrying he’s going to suffer another injury.

I forget the guys last name, a scout named Jokke who’s now a scout for the canes was high on holmstrom even after the isles drafted him and pretty much implied that he has the tools to become a star if he puts everything together

But that’s the isles fault - he was a good skater before he got drafted. Like Scott wheeler said, he put on too much weight in a short period of time which hurt his skating. Hopefully he’s working with a skating coach.

Jokke Nevalainen, I know him a bit, wouldn't call him a friend. Yeah, he thought that Holmström was a top-15 pick just based on his raw talent, a great prospect analyzer for sure.

Yeah there's a swede named Andreas Larsson, has a reputation of being one of the best skating coaches in the world, training with a lot of the Swedish players during the offseason, I hope he can work with him.

Off-topic; Who of Samuel Girard, Shea Theodore, Jakob Chychrun, Hampus Lindholm would you rather have if you could pick one?

Theodore and it’s not close lol

Yeah good choice. 🤩

Another interesting question: which C would you trade straight up for Barzal?

Considering age + contract , the only 3 centers I’d trade straight up for Barzal is Pettersson, Barkov, and Mcdavid.

Not Draisaitl or Matthews? Interesting. I get the contract factor but it would be hard for me to pass those up.

I guess Matthews I would do , no doubt he’s a top 3 center. If we’re going just on ability then for sure I’d trade barzal for him. Draisiatl is interesting. Despite the point totals I don’t think there’s a big difference between him and Barzal. I could be wrong.

100%. Issue is a lot of teams probably feel that way.