CANUCKSARMY’S 2018 NHL DRAFT PROFILES: #87 Carl Wassenius
5 years ago
Carl Wassenius is a player that you won’t see on very many rankings but comes in as the 87th ranked prospect in our consolidated rankings.
We’ve included him in our top 100 because of some encouraging draft data that makes him pop and the fact that he has just continued to produce at every level he has been at. From the eye test side, he has always been a noticeable player on a regular basis.
Obviously, we’d like to have seen him play more games in Swedish professional hockey by this point but there are enough reasons to think he is worth a flyer at some point in the draft.
Let’s take a look at the Swedish centre, Carl Wassenius.
Bio
- Age/Birthdate: 17.94/ October 6, 1999
- Birthplace: SWE
- Frame:6-foot-2/ 201 lbs
- Position: Centre
- Handedness: Left
- Draft Year Team: Orebro HK J20(Superelit)
- Accomplishments/Awards:
- 2016-2017
- J18 Allsvenskan (South) Most Goals (16)
- J18 Allsvenskan (South) Most Points (39)
- J18 Elit (East) Most Assists (36)
- J18 Elit (East) Most Goals (26)
- J18 Elit (East) Most Points (62)
- J18 Elit (Overall) Most Assists (36)
- J18 Elit (Overall) Most Points (62)
- 2017-2018
- J20 SM Bronze Medal
Stats
Career
2017-18 Season
| GP | G | A | P | SEAL | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 eP160 | Sh/Gp | Sh% | GF% | GF%rel | GD60rel | XLS% | XPR | xVAL |
| 34 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 0.66 | 37.0% | 25.8% | 1.67 | 3.65 | 13% | 50.0% | -1.3% | -0.13 | 23% | 29.3 | 2.0 |
His involvement in team scoring and shot generation rates are what really stand out for Wassenius. If the Orebro junior team was scoring, he was probably part of it and that’s always a good thing to see. No large breaks in offensive production with some reliance on powerplay production but nothing to be overly concerned about. Some struggles at 5v5 to close out the year.
Adjusted Scoring (SEAL)
Team Relative
Cohort Based
Another thing that stood about Wassenius is his pGPS – with a success rate of 22.5% among his cohorts. Some really interesting names in there with Jakob Silfverberg being his closest comparable.
Our Take
Obviously scouting the SuperElit can be a tricky venture and that is reinforced by the fact that there are limited scouting reports on Wassenius.
He has the size already to be an effective player but isn’t quick. He can get going when given space to have full strides. Wassenius is strong on the puck but displays some soft hands with stickhandling and passing. His shot isn’t particularly strong and will be something that needs to be improved. The Swedish pivot is good at slipping into gaps in coverage and then using his puck skills to his advantage.
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Wassenius finished 20th in league scoring trailing top prospect Dominik Bokk by one point, but worth adding that Wassenius did play one less game than Bokk at this level this year. Bokk went onto play some games in the SHL and the WJHC D1A this season, which allowed some more eyes on his game.
There are some issues with Wassenius’s game, in particular, his acceleration and agility on his skates and his shot. As with any 18 year old, there are some defensive reads that I would like to see improved.
But Wassenius really jumps out from an analytics standpoint with his shot generation through the roof, a really encouraging success rate among cohorts, and being a key cog of offence for his team. Honestly, Wassenius may just be a victim of his circumstance in the sense that he wasn’t able to get a chance in the Allsvenskan or SHL this season.
Personally, I had left him out of my top 100 due to only a handful of viewings but that was prior to really diving into the draft data that was available. With both of those angles in mind, Wassenius is someone who is worth the draft pick at any point after the second round. He has the potential to be a player that we look back on and ask ‘where did he come from?’
Further Reading
| Consolidated | Average | Future Considerations | Hockey Prospect.com | ISS Hockey | McKeen’s | The Athletic | TSN Bob McKenzie | TSN Craig Button | The Hockey News | Sportsnet | ESPN | Dobber Prospects |
| UR | 87.0 |
