Sven Reikkinen Scouting Report

[Devise 4,475]

Sven Reikkinen Scouting Report

 

Position: Defense

Height: 6'2

Weight: 213lb

Playstyle: Offensive D

 

The S78 VHL Entry Draft is nearly upon us as we take a look at one of the top defenders slated to be eligible for the upcoming festivities. Sven Reikkinen, a Finnish born defenseman who happens to be the cousin of famed VHL Hall of Famer Tukka Reikkinen. While Tukka was a forward, his much younger cousin Sven happens to possess a knack for offensive instincts, particularly shooting that must run in the family lineage. 

While much of Sven's youth and junior career stats are shrouded in mystery; as well as limited eyeballs on his game, what we've seen in his season and change in the VHLM gives us some hopeful things to pay attention too. 

 

Spoiler

 

Sven carried himself respectfully in his tenure in the M, he showed good mobility on the ice, was able to carry the play and was a consistent shot generator from the back end. He began to evolve into more of a special teams specialist if you will, as he became a quarterback and shot creator on the powerplay; as well as a shot blocking minute hog on the penalty kill. It's also clear that the Fin is continuing to work on the discipline side of things, so expect a defender who ca log a lot of minutes in a lot of different situations. From a risk perspective, a team known for playing in a lot of high physical games may want to look elsewhere as despite a natural frame, and holding himself up alright physically Sven isn't known as a checking first kind of defender. It's more his mobility and defensive hockey IQ that will allow him to hang with the big fish type players in the VHL sea. 

 

Core Strengths

 

Shooting Ability - Hard, accurate, but more importantly varied. Sven is gifted with having a great shot period. Whether it's the fast one timer, the bullet slap shot, the sniping wrister, shooting for a tip, a hard slap pass, the list goes on. If there is a strategy that involves shooting the puck, there is a good bet Sven has a handle on it, or soon will. He differs from many players with a shoot first mentality in that he isn't always shooting to score, he's very capable of using his shot to generate better scoring plays. This shooting ability makes him an ideal quarterback on the power play. 

All Around Hockey IQ - Sven is about as equally gifted at reading a play offensively as he is defensively. This two way ability is often rarer in more offensive minded D, however for Sven he excels at reading transition play. This allows the mobile D to be able to be in proper position whether he is needed for a rush, to pinch on the wall, or coming back to back check his man or block a lane. While his experience makes him prone to make mistakes, Sven thus far has adapted well during those moments by relying on his sound positional understanding of the game. 

Key Weaknesses

 

Passing - It's amazing how some players can be so offensively gifted, yet struggle at such a key offensive aspect of the game. Despite having passable (give the double pun a pass) passing skills on the breakout, and when not pressured, Sven is a very limited passer from a hockey perspective. He struggles with long range passes, bounce passes off the board and especially saucer passes. Forecheckers have forced many turnovers by blocking his easy passing lane. As such Sven much prefers skating up the rush and it would be wise to pair him with a defender with a good outlet pass. 

 

Checking - It's not so much that Sven "can't" hit, as that it only happens in situations where physical conflict is unavoidable. The Finn seems to take pride in avoiding physical plays on the ice, both from a disciplinary perspective on his own end and to avoid taking too much damage from the opposition. Being more of a sportsman on the ice will come with a gunshy approach to the physical side of the game. Other than engaging in the hitting side to defend himself, Sven has only resorted to it to clear the crease or defend a teammate. As his game evolves, and he gets quicker to boot expect less and less hits to be coming out of this blueliner. 

 

 

Draft Outlook: For the scouts money despite lacking in a couple of key areas Sven is the second best defender in this draft class. With the size of VHL rosters and the quality of players everywhere it's hard not to see Sven finding success on a team that can pair him with the right players, and that can make up for his faults. He's bound to have some growing pains, but any team looking for special teams help from the back end need look no further. Given his playstyle and fit, Sven will likely begin contributing immediately and has the potential to blossom into a legitimate award contender as his career evolves.