Adam Wilsby will be 20 years old in August and has been passed over in the draft twice already. The biggest reason for that I would say has been his late physical development. He has always been talented from a young age and played at the SuperElit level at 16 years old. It took him a couple of years to translate his best assets, skating and puck skills, to be successful at that level. He needed more strength and physical maturity. He looked quite good in the 2018-19 season but did not stand out.
This year he took a big step forward and totally dominated games against his peers early on, earning a contract in Allsvenskan where he impressed all throughout the season with 30 points in 41 games in his first season playing against men. 14 of those points came on the power play where demonstrated strong assets with his smooth skating and puck skills.
He is good at both zone exits and entries. If he gets more defensive poise and plays to his strength there, I could see him becoming an NHL defenseman in the future. Probably as a third pairing puck-mover as his overall package of skills overall is not elite. His power play skills are interesting enough to consider a future top 4 role as well. He is poised with the puck and often makes good decisions with it. For the draft I see him going somewhere in the middle rounds, while if there is a team that like him enough to pick him even higher, I wouldn’t be surprised either.
Adam Wilsby | 2020 NHL Draft Eligible |
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Position: D, Shoots L | H/W: 6-0", 183 lbs |
Stats to date (GP-G-A-PTS-PIMS) | Skelleftea AIK, SHL (1-0-1-1-0) |
Sodertalje SK, Allsvenskan (41-3-27-30-26) | |
Skelleftea AIK J20, SuperElit (13-6-8-14-12) | |
Skelleftea AIK, Champions Hockey League (3-0-0-0-2) |

Södertäljes Adam Wilsby during the ice hockey match in Hockeyallsvenskan between Södertälje and AIK on November 29, 2019 in Södertälje.
Photo: Maxim Thoré / BILDBYRÅN
Skating: A strong skater, above average speed, without being elite. He has good lower-body balance and a long powerful stride. His straight-line speed stands out when he gets up the ice. He can skate off opponents with the puck. As he has gotten older and stronger, he has emerged more and more as a strong skater. The technique has been there but not the strength. When he skates away with the puck from his own end, he can use his body effectively to hold off opponents and keep up a good speed. He moves well sideways and backwards and looks smooth on the ice. Grade: 55
Shot: Wilsby is rarely a threat from the blue line with his shot. He is more dangerous if he gets inside the circles on the rush. He has a quick wrist shot but it is not hard or accurate enough to be a strong weapon from distance. In juniors I saw him score a power play goal by skating with the puck end to end before finish when he got in alone in front of the goal. At the senior level he would shoot more from distance for the purpose of forcing a rebound or a deflection. Grade: 45
Skills: Wilsby has excellent puck control at high speed and can deke his way through a tight situation. He does not possess elite puck control, but he has his head up trying to find good alternatives with the puck while controlling it. On the power play he is an excellent passer and can move laterally smoothly with the puck. At the Allsvenskan level he had 14 power play assists in 41 games which is impressive for a junior defenseman. If there is any skill aspect that requires work, it is getting more comfortable with receiving the puck while moving forward. He tends to lose control of the puck a bit too easy if he gets a bad pass. Grade: 55
Smarts: Wilsby has good vision. He sees where the play is going and, on a power play, he sees the angles and passing lanes well. His defensive game is not a strength, but it is okay. He needs to be more decisive and he tends to get passive around the net. His backwards skating helps him to be effective in defending his own blue line where he reads the play well. In time I can see him getting stronger defensively. His defensive awareness in his own end is good even if his strengths are mostly in the offensive game. He is also good offensively without the puck getting into passing lanes and he positions himself well to help teammates. Grade: 55
Physicality: Wilsby has been a late bloomer, physically-speaking. He had been listed at 5-6” and shot up to 6-0” one year later. As he has gotten stronger and grown into his body, he has been able to use his skating and balance more effectively. Wilsby is not a strong physical player and rarely deliver hits but he competes quite well and can block shots. He does not shy away from contact and can use his body to hold off opponents while he skates with the puck. Grade: 50
Overall Future Projection (OFP): 52.75
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.