Photo Credit – HV71
Emil Andrae was the top scoring defenseman in SuperElit this season, while also having 12 points in 13 games for the u-18 Swedish team, and being a standout at the WHC-17 last year. Despite being undersized, he is certainly the most talented Swedish blue-liner in the draft, and has the ability to be a top four NHL defenseman down the line.
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 23, 2002
Nationality – Sweden
Draft Eligibility – 2020
Height – 5’9
Weight – 183 lbs
Position – Defense
Handedness – Left
Andrae’s Style Of Play
Andrae is able to puck-handle exceptionally well, both at speed and in close quarters. This lends itself well to transitioning the puck up ice, as well as evading pressure and providing efficient outlet passing from his own zone. He is also creative in the offensive zone, especially at the offensive blue-line, where his hands, IQ and calm demeanor means that he creates space exceptionally well, and baits forwards into over-committing to result in odd-men situations when walking in. This becomes a greater threat when his wrist-shot is factored in, as once a man has over-committed Andrae is capable of driving to the high-slot and getting a dangerous wrister off to create havoc near the crease. He has a good defensive IQ as well, and even though he is by no means “big”, he is broad and strong for his size, and has no issue being physical. At times he even engages in contact when he has the puck in the offensive zone. It is rare to see a defenseman “Forsberg” an opponent… but Andrae did just that on multiple occasions this year.
Apart from size, the only real issue is that his skating is pretty mediocre, and while very agile he has a slightly clunky stride, and as a result does not seem to develop the power he might be capable of in a straight line. He projects as a middle pairing defenseman if he can get faster. However, overall he has a very mature game that does not need overly developing from here on out in order to reach the NHL.
Comparable
Jared Spurgeon, right handed defenseman, Minnesota Wild
Similar to Spurgeon, Andrae is an undersized, two-way defenseman that has grit. Spurgeon has better skating right now, but Andrae is naturally flashier and a lefty. It is doubtful that he can be as good as Spurgeon, but his ceiling could be similar at “face value”.
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stats from eliteprospects.com