Linus Zetterstrom Scouting Report

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Linus Zetterstrom

 

Linus Zetterstrom Scouting Report

 

As an obscure Swedish defenceman entering the VHLM Dispersal Draft, Linus Zetterstrom was only being scouted by one team: the Las Vegas Aces, now champions of the Western Conference. Now, Zetterstrom is catching the eyes of lots of VHL scouts, with his 2 goals and 20 assists in 68 games. His -2 plus/minus may be a deterrent, but his 32 blocked shots and 85 hits more than make up for it. 

 

Strengths: 

 

Defensive play: Zetterstrom is a beast in his own end. It is his top priority in practice, and it shows in the game. He always has his head on a swivel and doesn't leave anyone alone in front of the net. 

He is great at retrievals and always makes a crisp good pass. And with his active stick, and always playing the body, Zetterstrom is hard to beat on a rush.

 

Skating: When scouts saw him in Sweden, his smooth skating quickly caught their eyes. While he is not the fastest skater, Zetterstrom is known to be quick and he has almost perfect backward skating. He is almost never caught with straight legs on the ice, and he's always ready for a pass.

 

Attitude: His former teammates are always praising him for being a positive force on the bench. "He's always the guy that's shouting encouragement from the bench, and the guy that's comforting you after you made a crappy play" said a teammate from the U18s. "He was definitely deserving of being a captain that year". 

 

 

Weaknesses: 

 

Physicality: Zetterstrom has never been the guy with the big hits or or the massive penalty numbers. Although he's a tough character in corners and in front of the net, physicality is definitely an area of focus for him. He's sometimes too soft on checks or doesn't finish his check when rubbing a guy out. 

 

Strength: Even though he spends a good amount of time in the gym, Zetterstrom is still pretty slight at only 6'0 and 184 pounds. He is never the biggest guy on the ice, and however he makes up for that, being a little stronger would go along way in a league as tough as the VHL.

 

Scoring: Zetterstrom is a pass first defenceman. This is exhibited every single time he steps on the ice. But scoring is an important element of the game, and Zetterstrom isn't exactly adept at it. His shot would be classified as 'decent' at best. Again with the strength, he doesn't have the hardest shot either. He only has 2 goals this season.