Just so you guys know, Rundblad has it written in his contract that if he does not make the NHL he can choose to either go back to the SEL or accept the demotion to the AHL.
Not sure what he would do, and I think that might have been part of the reason Ottawa did not have him in the AHL
He has tons of potential, but he needs (IMO) to learn the NA style in the AHL for at least 20 games (much like the Sens did with Karlsson in his first year). Hopefully he will accept demotion if asked
Just to point out, in all fairness, I don't think there has been a Swede in the NHL over the last 20 years who has not had a similar clause in his contract. It just something all of them put in there just in case things go wrong. Oh, and I don't mean wrong as in a "normal" demotion, rather wrong as in "go rot in AHL, we don't want or need you here" which, although very rare, has happened in the past for Swedes (and I guess for others as well).
I suppose that part is refering to offense isolated but even then "way better" is pushing it.
I like OEL a lot and was one of the few that thought he deserved more minutes last year. That being said, I don't remember seeing any videos that showed offensive skill close to what this guy shows. Now that may not translate to the NHL but Runblad "looks" like he can be crazy good offensively. Of course that crazy may result in a lot of odd man rushes but we'll have to see.
UGH remember the offensive skilled videos we saw of Turris? I will not past judgement on a few selective youtube clips. I'm sure I could put a youtube clip vid together of all the great things joVo has done and that could have you salivating, save for the fact we know all the "non highlights"
David Rundblad clearly needed to go to the AHL to work on defense this season but instead was given more playing time while other more NHL ready players were riding the pine.
I hope if he is sent down, that he accepts the assignment. I have a sneaking suspicion that he would have went to the SEL if Ottawa tried to send him to the farm this year. When asked about reporting to the farm this year for seasoning, Rundblad deferred from comment.
I like OEL a lot and was one of the few that thought he deserved more minutes last year. That being said, I don't remember seeing any videos that showed offensive skill close to what this guy shows. Now that may not translate to the NHL but Runblad "looks" like he can be crazy good offensively. Of course that crazy may result in a lot of odd man rushes but we'll have to see.
There is no doubt that Rundblad has some exceptional skills. I have seen Rundblad play a few times in Sweden and he was one of the best players in the elite league, but he is exactly the type of player that will have a hard time adjusting his game to quicker speed and less space in NA. There's been so many stars in the SEL that are simply not made for the smaller rinks and faster pace. Now I don't think Rundblad will be a complete bust, he's simply too skilled. But he will need time, preferably in the AHL.
The Blues drafted David Rundblad with their first round pick (17th overall) at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal. Jarmo Kekalainen, the Blues Director of Scouting, says some scouts believe Rundblad has higher ceiling than Victor Hedman, who was selected second overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I like OEL a lot and was one of the few that thought he deserved more minutes last year. That being said, I don't remember seeing any videos that showed offensive skill close to what this guy shows. Now that may not translate to the NHL but Runblad "looks" like he can be crazy good offensively. Of course that crazy may result in a lot of odd man rushes but we'll have to see.
Watching him this year, the skill set is very much there. He isn't afraid throw a check either.
The big D errors he made are mainly things that can be corrected with more experience, and smacks of a rookie that is trying to pull stuff that worked in his old league but not in the NHL. Karlsson spent a stretch in the AHL his first year, and Rundblad would benefit with the same. Runblad reminds me of Karlsson breaking in in a lot of ways.
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Defensive play is under average but he will be okay in the future.
Offensive play is he over average. In a comparison with OEL so is Rundblad way better.
I think he will help you a lot when it comes to the offensive part.
Comparing both playing in Sweden, yes. But these are young talanted players still developing. Don't be too sure and also it looks like OEL is way ahead of his transition to North American style hockey.
You wait just one damn minute. One poster inadvertently left off one "d" in one post in this entire thread and you feel the need to come in here and post this? Everybody else got it right and nobody needs your little lessons.
You better pair Rundblad with a defensive specialist, somebody like Larsson. ;-)
Another option would be migrating Rundblad into a forward.
I have seen that video a few times before, always gives me goosebumps when imagining SWE's D in the next olympics...
Goes to show the sick offensive potential of Rundblad, although of course it's just youtube highlights so it should not be taken as guarantee for anything really. If he learns to play decent D and adapts to the speed of the NHL then I think there's little doubt that he will become great, but those two "if's" are substantial and it will take hard work and good surroundings to make it. I guess the third thing I would add (although it goes together with learning the speed of the game) is that he needs to know that when he starts going through, dangling or whatever, they won't come for the puck but rather go for the body which already happened more than a few times in OTT.
Here is a more specific one of Rundblad, with a few nice hits as well :-).
Paired with OEL? This should be interesting. On the one hand ot makes a lot of sense because OEL is mobile enough to get back in a hurry if Rundblad is caught pinching. Also communication won't be a problem. Having said that, I hope this isn't Tippett just sticking the two young guys on the bottom pair so he can double shift Klesla, Rozsival, Yandle and Morris. I will be disappointed if the young Swedes end up with twelve minutes of ice time each. Both kids gamble A LOT though.
And as a fan of his previous team in Sweden - he will NEVER go back to Sweden unless it's because his NHL career has failed.
If he gets sent down to the AHL, I'm pretty sure he'll accept it and play there.
Why do I say this? Because he could have opened a window in every interview since the middle of his breakout season. Question after question was "Will you go to the NHL after this season", and he always answered yes. If he ever got asked, after he and Ottawa decided that he'll play the 11-12 season in Ottawa, if he'd come back to Sweden if he was sent down, he never opened the window even at all, he kept it closed. Not one answer in one interview gave the fans hope that he maybe would play (parts of) 11/12 in Sweden.
I'm pretty sure he'd HATE to get sent down, but I'm also pretty sure he'd play in the AHL if that was what was asked of him.
This is from the playoffs 2010/2011 in the SEL. Pretty impressive.
Some clips might be from the last few games in the regular season, but even then it's pretty damn impressive how much highlights he can produce in such few games.
I mean the famous "Magic Number Seven" video, is only from what, 45 games.
Last edited by thephillyflu: 12-21-2011 at 06:47 PM.
