B’s set wheels in motion with Axel
BUFFALO — So far, it appears the Bruins did well in selecting defenseman Axel Andersson with their top pick (57th overall) in this year’s NHL draft.
He skates very well, plays with a flare and seems to enjoy competing.
But everyone gets their “Welcome to the NHL” moment and, in the Prospects Challenge game against the Buffalo Sabres rookies on Saturday night, Andersson got his.
Early in the first period, Andersson lugged the puck from his own end and made a terrific move to beat the first Sabres forechecker, eliciting a collective “Oooh!” from the SRO crowd at Harborcenter. But before he could make it to the blue line, he ran into 6-foot-5 Tage Thompson and his Andean condor wingspan. Thompson, with 41 NHL games under his belt, poked the puck away from Andersson and took off on a clean breakaway.
“I beat the first guy, but I (expletive) up with the second. Sorry for my language,” said the polite young Swede with a blush. “I was kind of disappointed because I thought the first one was pretty good but then, well, you know.”
Luckily for Andersson, Thompson pinged the crossbar behind goalie Daniel Vladar, and the episode provided Providence Bruins coach Jay Leach a consequence-free teachable moment. And the good news is that the young player did not go into a shell after the mistake.
“We’re at a place within the game where we want guys to make plays, we want some skill,” Leach said. “We want these guys to be able to make plays. With that particular play, we showed it to him. We said, ‘Hey you made an unbelievable play the first time. Just make a pass the second time.’ But that’s the evolution of the kid.
“But then, after that, I thought he settled in. He has the ability to see the ice fairly well, he seems to be very courageous. There’s definitely something there. If you see defensemen out there in these games that are able to make a couple of passes, make plays and shut down plays, it’s very encouraging because the games are very scrambled. It’s hard to play as a defenseman. I thought his game was really overall pretty effective, like most of our defensemen.”
For Andersson and Urho Vaakanainen, who are getting their first taste of North American hockey, their plate is awfully full. They’re trying to adapt to a new system and to the smaller North American rinks. And on top of that, they’re being encouraged to make plays.
“He’s got an awful lot going on in his head,” said Leach.
For Andersson, the toughest adjustment has been the rink size.
“You just have to play a bit faster, be quicker in your mind. Look up and just play faster,” said Andersson.
Bruins notes
Jakub Lauko, a thirdround pick (77th overall) by the Bruins in the 2018 draft, may not be ready for the NHL yet, but he gets high marks for his feistiness. He had running battles with a couple of Sabres on Saturday.
“This is actually the first time I’ve seen him play, ever. I’ve never met him before in my life,” said Lauko’s Czech countryman Jakub Zboril. “He’s seems like a really nice guy in the locker room. There’s lots of fun about him. But then he steps on the ice and he can be actually mean, even though he’s a smaller guy. He has that drive to the net. He wants to score. He’s willing go to the places where it hurts to go.” . . .
The Bruins were hoping to have forward Oskar Steen, a sixth-round pick in 2016 who has shown some flashes in past camps, here this weekend at the Prospects Challenge but he did not get released from Swedish club . . . .
Not expected to play in Monday’s finale are the players who are scheduled to travel to China. That group includes Trent Frederic, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jack Studnicka, Ryan Donato, Urho Vaakanainen and Zboril.