The Struggle Returns

[Dangles13 373]

In a recent trade, the Saskatoon Wild traded stars Otto Axelsson and Dragon McDragon to the Las Vegas Aces. The Wild received a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd round pick for the two studs and looks poised to kick off the rebuild in good fashion. Since arriving in Las Vegas, Axelsson, the young Swede has been underwhelming, to say the least. Despite the Aces going 4-2 in the six games since the trade, Otto has so far managed exactly zero points. An ugly -5 over that span certainly is reminiscent of Otto's early career struggles when he fizzled out of professional hockey for a season. 

 

Has Axelsson lost all confidence? Was Axelsson just a byproduct of a good system in Saskatoon or was he carried by far better players? The pivot has been a ghost out there and the coach has reduced his minutes to a lowly 13 per game, 15 less than he was logging when he had Dragomir on his wing. Perhaps this is just a case of a player needing to find chemistry with new linemates and over time the forward will come into his own and show the same dynamic playmaking that he exhibited with the Wild.