Welcome back for another SHL prospects update! A few quick hitters as we look to the SHL this month:

Led by Elias Pettersson, the Vaxjo Lakers sit comfortably atop the SHL standings with 77 points, a 14 point lead over second place Djurgardens. He’s slipped down the scoring leaders due to competing in the world juniors and sits six points back of leader Ryan Lasch, Pettersson’s 36 points in 28 games still puts him on pace to finish with a top three all-time U20 season.

Pettersson cruises into the slot and pounds home a one timer:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="sv" dir="ltr">. <a

href="https://twitter.com/vaxjolakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vaxjolakers</a> poängkung,

Elias Pettersson, visar att formen håller i sig även efter JVM. <a

href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Twittpuck?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Twittpuck</

a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SHL</a>

<a href="https://t.co/qL4i1I1lPB">pic.twitter.com/qL4i1I1lPB</a></p>&mdash; C More Sport

(@cmoresport) <a

href="https://twitter.com/cmoresport/status/952192463204241408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Janu

ary 13, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Pettersson’s teammate Dominik Bokk, a 2018 draft eligible, made the move to Sweden this season and proceeded to light up the junior circuit, leading to a call up with to the big club. He’s only managed one goal and one assist in 14 SHL games but the important thing is that this 17 year old is learning what it’s light to compete against men. Anything else is just gravy. Our own Cam Robinson has Bokk ranked No. 15 in the latest edition of his 2018 draft rankings.

Bokk scoring his first and only SHL goal:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a

href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SHL</a>: LW

Dominik Bokk (Ranked No. 46) scored his first SHL goal in Vaxjo's 4-3 win vs Rogle. RW

Elias Petterson (VAN) also scored for Vaxjo. <a

href="https://t.co/0SZUyxX54Z">pic.twitter.com/0SZUyxX54Z</a></p>&mdash; Steve

Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) <a

href="https://twitter.com/TheDraftAnalyst/status/926599479679209475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">

November 3, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Vegas’ third round pick in 2017, Jonas Rondjberg had an outstanding 2018 WJC for Denmark and went into the tournament riding a little bit of wave having scored three goals in the two games leading up to his heading to Buffalo. Overall he has four points in his last four SHL contests and stand with five goals and three assists in 27 games. The Dane is averaging just nine and a half minutes of ice which is the second lowest mark on the team among regulars.

Rondjberg with a pair starting at 0:57 and a stinker at 1:30:

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At 3:04 Rondjberg hammers home a one-timer:

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Buffalo Sabres prospect Victor Olofsson leads the league in goals with 21. He’s been on fire lately riding a five game goal scoring streak and racking up a total of eight points. He’s second on Frolunda with 32 points and has nine more goal than his next best teammate. His contract is up at the end of this season so it will be interesting to see if the Sabres bring him over to North America.

Olofsson’s latest snipe:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Frölunda sniper

Victor Olofsson has goals in five consecutive contests. Yesterday he striped one for his

SHL-best 21st of the year and nearly connected for another <a

href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sabres?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sabres</a>

<a href="https://t.co/TocMnOeoAv">pic.twitter.com/TocMnOeoAv</a></p>&mdash; Kris Baker

(@SabresProspects) <a

href="https://twitter.com/SabresProspects/status/952531428620808192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">

January 14, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Staying with Sabres’ prospects, the fourth time seems to be the charm for Rasmus Asplund as he’s been crushing it in his fourth SHL campaign. Despite being just 20 years old, he was given the added responsibility of wearing a letter this year, rocking an ‘A’ for Farjestad. He hasn’t let it affect his production as he’s already established new career highs with 18 helpers and 23 points and is rolling right now with eight points over his last eight games.

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rasmus Asplund wins a draw and slips inside for the finish in Färjestad's Saturday victory <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sabres?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sabres</a> <a href="https://t.co/W43RzEiwEL">pic.twitter.com/W43RzEiwEL</a></p>&mdash; Kris Baker (@SabresProspects) <a href="https://twitter.com/SabresProspects/status/952555320068526080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Asplund with a pair of helper at 1:05 and at 1:55 winning the draw:

{youtube}z8E2Lp787Zc{/youtube}

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Columbus prospect Jonathan Davidsson has been a more than pleasant surprise. The sixth rounder posted 12 points last year but has already eclipsed that mark with seven goals 12 assists in 35 games. He’s the third highest scoring U21 player in the league behind Pettersson and Asplund. After starting out the season in the single-digits and low teens in tice time, he’s seen a big uptick over the past few weeks, regularly playing well over 17 minutes a night

Starting at 1:03 Davidsson takes the pass then springs his teammate with some sauce for a breakaway:

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At 2:01 Davidsson set up a teammate for the tap in goal:

{youtube}ERqRq4FBHkg{/youtube}

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Nashville prospect Victor Edjsell had a huge year in the Allsvensken last season and has made the transition to the next level without missing a beat. The monster Swede has potted 13 goals to lead HV71, with five of those coming in the past four contests, and is tied for 11th in the league in the category. Couple that with nine assists and his 22 points place him second on the team and seventh among U24 scorers league wide.

Edjsell with a two goal, three point effort:

{youtube}h33byD6Q2_s{/youtube}

And a two point game:

{youtube}bavWhnKuVzQ{/source}

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Lukas Vejdemo has seen him number come back up after a positional move to centre in 2016-17 affected his production. But he’s seemed to gotten the hang of it this season as he fired seven goals and 10 helpers on the year for Djurgardens. Vejdmo fits the bill for the Habs in that he is a decently sized centre. But whether or not he’s anything more than a bottom-six forward in the NHL remains to be seen. He re-upped for one more year just before Christmas so he won’t be seen in North America until 2019-20 at the earliest.

Vejdemo with a pair of helpers:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lukas Vejdemo grabbed two assists yesterday. His second was particularly nice, blocking a shot, blowing past the defender, and creating a 2v1. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Habs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Habs</a> <a href="https://t.co/3fTAglv4rn">pic.twitter.com/3fTAglv4rn</a></p>&mdash; Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchLBrown/status/946770481763487745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Vejdemo with a nice goal at 0:31:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lukas Vejdemo played one of his finest matches yesterday. Here's his best plays, including a highlight reel goal. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Habs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Habs</a> | Full Video: <a href="https://t.co/ghuLYZJFn3">https://t.co/ghuLYZJFn3</a> <a href="https://t.co/IRsVkKMGE8">pic.twitter.com/IRsVkKMGE8</a></p>&mdash; Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchLBrown/status/939168948150521857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2017</a></blockquote>

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As always thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @BradHPhillips.

Brad Phillips