Sweden: Hugo Alnefelt, G

Hugo Alnefelt is the best Swedish goalie prospect of his draft class. He has the tools to become an NHL goalie but as it looks today, lacks some potential elite tools to become a regular starter or an elite goalie, of which there are few these days. It will be interesting to follow his development and to see if he can adjust some of his flaws with better core strength and quicker upper body movement.

The smoothness suggest that he can be quicker. He is good at letting the upper body follow his eyes and getting square to the puck. His glove could use more quickness as well. He is a good puck stopper and is most of all consistent and methodical in his game.

He remains calm under pressure but can also show impressive reactions and competitive plays. As he has good size, I can see him get drafted in the first half of the draft. As with almost all goalies he is long term project.

Athleticism/Quickness/Speed: Alnefelt is big, but also smooth in the net. He moves well up and down on his knees and sideways. He stands quite deep in the crease which makes his distance to move sideways shorter. He can move his upper body well and seems to get square to the puck quickly with his whole body. He needs to get stronger though, especially his core strength. When the puck is close to the net, and he needs to react fast to a loose puck or shot he often falls forward with his upper body which puts him in a bad position for a potential rebound. His legs move smoothly and quickly and he can react fast but can get quicker in his upper body movement. His edge plays are quite good as well. He can stretch out well to make a save. Grade: 55

Compete/Temperament: He looks calm and focused. He rarely overworks a situation and looks like a guy who knows what he is doing. Even if the defense in front of him doesn’t do their job in covering up, Alnefelt remains focused. He competes well on loose pucks and sometimes makes saves even when he is out of position. Grade: 55

Vision/Reading Play: Alnefelt tracks the puck well, even when the puck is behind the crease or deflects oddly, he seems to keep track of where the puck is. He reads the usual plays well but when the opposing attack shows creativity or something unexpected happens, he can be a bit slow to find his position. Grade: 55

Technique/Style: A hybrid between standing up and playing butterfly. He stands tall when the puck is not in a dangerous position and goes down quickly when he is getting ready for a shot. He plays the same way consistently for the same situations. He is good at positioning himself and his angle play is very strong. His glove hand is good, but not spectacular. He works with the glove upwards and uses it to cover the whole space beside him between the leg and arm in his basic position. Grade: 55

Rebound Control: Today, he can let off too many rebounds when he is facing high pressure. If he can get stronger and a bit smoother in his upper body that part of his game could show fast improvement. He faces the shots well which helps him to suck in the puck and keep it from a rebound. From the right and left angles, he has good control and rarely lets a dangerous rebound out in the slot. Grade: 55

Puck Handling: As it is for many Swedish goalies, this isn’t prioritized. Alnefelt gets out and stops the puck when he needs to, but he doesn’t make other than simple plays with it. Grade: 40

Overall Future Projection (OFP): 53.5

A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity