{"id":17703,"date":"2017-10-15T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=17703"},"modified":"2017-10-14T21:22:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T01:22:50","slug":"gabriel-carlsson-not-overlooked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/10\/15\/gabriel-carlsson-not-overlooked\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel Carlsson Should Not be Overlooked"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been an abundance of young players on the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> roster so far. We\u2019ve seen Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a><\/strong> get his first NHL goal, Sonny Milano<\/a><\/strong> already leading the team with four goals, and of course everyone is still excited about Zach Werenski<\/a><\/strong>. But lost in the excitement of Dubois and the new arrival of Artemi Panarin<\/a><\/strong>, Gabriel Carlsson<\/a><\/strong> has quietly been making a place for himself on the 3rd pairing.<\/p>\n

The Emergence of Gabriel Carlsson<\/h2>\n

The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted Gabriel Carlsson in 2015 draft at 29th overall. At the time of his draft, he had just finished playing for Link\u00f6ping, and it\u2019s farm teams, in the Swedish Hockey League. Carlsson played for\u00a0Link\u00f6ping\u2019s under-18 team before being brought to their under-20 team for 39 games.\u00a0At the end of the 2014-15 season, Carlsson played for the main Link\u00f6ping team for seven games. During those seven games, he recorded two assists.<\/p>\n

When Columbus drafted him they knew that he was not going to be an offensive juggernaut; throughout 92 games in the SHL, Carlsson had three goals and twelve assists. One scouting report from thedraftanalyst said<\/a>, \u201cHis dedication to defending his position is part of his upbringing within the Swedish system, but mostly due to fellow blueliners who were specifically tasked to push forward, leaving Carlsson as one of the reliables staying behind,\u201d and \u201cat worst, Carlsson is a rock-solid positional defender who can be counted on to stand up and makes plays at his own blue line.\u201d<\/p>\n

LWOS’ own Ben Kerr<\/a> said, “The best part of Gabriel Carlsson\u2019s game, is his play in his own end of the rink. \u00a0He has excellent positioning, and his hockey IQ is very high. \u00a0He anticpates plays well, cutting down passing lanes with a long stick, and creating\u00a0transitions with a good first pass. Carlsson\u2019s big body is an asset as he is willing to play a physical game, throwing hits, fighting for loose pucks, and clearing the front of the net. He battles hard every shift and is willing to do whatever it takes to win games.”<\/p>\n

Last Year<\/h3>\n

During the end of last season, Carlsson played in two regular season games and all five playoff games.\u00a0He played\u00a0more than 17 minutes during those two regular season games and had a positive shot differential as well. During the playoffs, he played more minutes than Kyle Quincey<\/a><\/strong>, Scott Harrington<\/a>,<\/strong> and Markus Nutivaara<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n