| Joel Svensson | Vaxjo HC J20 | J20 Nationell | R | C | 6’1″ | 183 | Oskarshamn, SWE | 2005 | 2022-2023: B- |
Svensson is an offensive minded right shot center who has the awareness to play both wings. He is strong on pucks and we feel that his skating base will allow him to get faster as he continues to add strength and weight. While protecting the puck he has a sneaky reverse hit that consistently knocks opponents down and after contact he uses a cross-under to take advantage of the space he’s created. As a puck carrier he shows deception by changing pace and cutting laterally to manipulate the gap into his favor. Svensson attacks the middle of the ice and he has the passing ability to find the open lane through the defender’s triangle or feet. On the International stage he has only played four games for the 2005 age group and he’s never been a top six player, but has been a consistent and reliable penalty killer. For a real chance to play in the National League Svensson will need to continue adding strength and he must win more 50/50 puck battles as over the past two seasons in U18/U20 hockey he has a won 43% of his battles.
J20 SuperElit: Vaxjo HC vs Frolunda HC, September 7. 2022: Svensson totaled 18:16 in ice time including 2:39 while on the power play. He did not play while shorthanded. He had two primary assists with the first coming on a line rush where he received a pass in the right dot lane, slowed his pace to manipulate the gap into his favor and then fired a beautiful hard pass through the defender’s triangle to his middle drive who was the goal scorer. On the second assist he showed good competitiveness after losing the puck in offensive right corner, Svensson then slammed on the breaks and used a sweep check to knock the puck off his opponent’s stick. His linemate gathered the loose puck and passed to him in the corner. Svensson then used a reverse hit to create space for himself and made a 10′ backhand pass to the face-off dot to the goal scorer. He also showed excellent straight line speed when he flew by the opposing defenders to beat them to a loose puck in the neutral zone. The play led to a breakaway. We like how he used his body to protect the puck while cycling and his ability to use both points to expand his opponent’s defensive zone coverage. He finished the game even with 2 assists, 4 shots, 1 PP shot, 3 grade “A” opportunities, 2 hits, received 1 hard body check, had 3 shots blocked, 8 giveaways, 4 takeaways and he won 36% of his 14 puck battles.
U17: Sweden vs Czechia, April 13, 2022: Svensson totaled 10:44 in ice time including 1:26 while shorthanded. He did not play on the power play. He played forth line minutes, but he was noticeable as a penalty killer where he was first or second over the boards for the kill. He showed an active stick and willingness to maintain shooting lanes. On Czechia’s first goal he did get caught in a penalty kill rotation where the weakside dot lane shooter scored, but after watching PK’s later in the game we feel this was a system’s rotation because the eventual scorer was on his strong side. Later in the second period he had a grade “A” shorthanded opportunity after he used his speed to force the play up the ice which generated a turnover. He then lowered his shoulder plowing through the Czech defender to carry the puck to the far post. Svensson also had two beautiful exploding shoulder reverse hits that knocked his opponents onto their butts. He finished the game with 2 giveaways. 2 takeaways and he won 50% of his 8 puck battles.