Rookie Profile Thorvald Gunnarsson [1/2]

[Saelven88 58]

Thorvald Gunnarsson

 

Lahti, Finland

 

Age 22

 

Height 6'6”

 

Weight 225

 

Hybrid Style Goaltender

 

 

Thorvald Gunnarsson is an intriguing prospect. He is large and athletic but has some glaring weakness that will need to be addressed as he continues to develop his pro game. He spent the first two years as a pro playing for the Porvoo Hunters in the Suomi-sarja league. He caught the eye of his hometown club and has played two seasons for the Lahti Pelicans.

 

 

 

As an amateur Gunnarsson showed a plus ability to control rebounds. He has further improved early in his pro career. He has a good awareness of the puck and open space allowing him to direct the puck to low danger areas when he can't catch and freeze it. He does not need to rely on his defense to clear the crease as he seldom allows quality follow up chances.

 

He showed good reflexes and can cover up positioning mistakes with his athleticism. Gunnarsson spent a year playing behind a terrible defense early in his career and still managed to keep his team in games. He uses his good reactions and to compliment his awareness

 

Gunnarsson also possess good hand speed to react to pucks shot high. His glove is quik and he does not miss many shots to that side. His confidence in his glove has caused him to rely on it to bail him out of bad situations. His stick is good, but could stand additional development at the next level. He uses his stick well in the crease, but he does not look comfortable playing the puck behind the net.

 

 

 

Gunnarsson is tall, but he does not play like it. He does not utilize his height to his advantage to see over and around screens. He will often drop down early and rely on his hand speed and reflexes to make saves rather than be patient and react. Once he drops he tends to stay compact and does not fully utilize the length of his legs. He has not needed to make sprawling saves often but as the level of play around him gets better he will need to better utilize his size to his advantage.

 

This tendency to drop early has cost him in one on one situations. He struggles with penalty shots and break away situations, because he lacks patience. He also starts deeper in the zone in these situations than most goaltenders. These issues should be fixable with good coaching as he sees higher competition. Once he settles in and learns to wait out shooters he will be difficult to beat.

 

Gunnarsson has shown below average skating ability. Gunnarsson looks tentative when leaving his crease and does not look comfortable in those situations. He will need to work on his skating ability at the next level so that it is not a liability.

 

Overall Gunnarsson is a strong goaltender who could develop into a special player. He will need to fix some holes in his game, but the added challenge of higher competition should bring out the best in him.

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Saelven88