Owls' Quick Draft Hits: Jonas Røndbjerg
#Jonas Røndbjerg: Växjö Lakers J20 (SuperElit)
The most highly regarded Danish prospect of this year’s draft, Jonas Røndbjerg is a three-position left shooting forward who seamlessly made the transition from the top level Danish men’s league (where he’d been playing since 15) to Swedish J20s this year (at 17 for the majority of the season), with cameos all over the place: a full European season is typically less than 50 games; Røndbjerg played 79, including five with Växjö’s SHL squad and 32 at international events, playing on both the U18 and U20 teams for Denmark in basically every possible tournament this year – including being named Denmark’s best player at the U18 world junior championships.
Røndbjerg’s a player who’s hard to sell – he isn’t particularly elite at anything, not even "size", a common issue for mid-rounders. His speed is probably his best asset, but we’re not talking about Hagelin or Anthansiou here, just someone who’s effective on the fore- and backcheck and covers for mistakes well – think Hansen or Clutterbuck. He’s got above average four way mobility, good defensive play (probably encouraged by playing in an adult league very early), accurate passes, and decent awareness to find open ice or get into passing lanes when he's away from the puck. He’s definitely a playmaker, with good vision for finding teammates in open ice, a skill that should translate to higher levels of hockey and will help him remain useful offensively.
Jonas does need to work on his shot, which isn’t strong enough or quick enough to be a real threat if he'll ever progress to the higher levels and playing against better goaltenders, and on his physical play – board battles and puck protection are weaknesses compared to the typical eighteen year old. The silver lining here is that at 176lbs, he’s got the room to fill out his frame and becoming physically stronger will assist him in plugging both of these holes, and his weaknesses in size are likely amplified because he plays above his age group. Finally, he’s been noted to have some compete issues, which is a red flag but not necessarily unfixable – getting a player to give 110% every night can often be as easy as putting them into a situation that they’re happy with, whether that’s a coach that helps them succeed or just having the right players around them in the room: the “veteran presence” that we hear about so much.
In the NHL, Røndbjerg achieving his potential projects to be a play-anywhere type of bottom-nine forward. It feels a little lazy to make this comparison considering the nationalities, but Jannik Hansen’s a good comparable, as is Kris Versteeg – someone who definitely doesn't rate as part of your "core", but who can handle themselves in all situations anywhere on the ice, with spot duty on special teams.
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Posted May 27, 2017, 12:28 AM UTC