Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen wrote a column about Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson, who’s played surprisingly strongly at the World Junior Summer Showcase:
Anton Johansson, who turned 19 last month, will return to Leksands for the upcoming season. He already has played 25 games in the Swedish Hockey League, but understands he has work to do before he is ready to come to North America.
“Mostly defensive stuff,” he said. “I think I need to work on that more this season. I think I have the offense, just work on the defense and try to get more complete.”
Johansson’s lure is that he has the potential to be a full service defenseman. Swedish coaches use him in all situations in this tournament. He has size, offensive skill and defensive desire to be a factor in all three zones. Johansson is trying not to get ahead of himself. Niklas Kronwall, an adviser to Steve Yzerman, talks to Johansson at least once a week in Sweden.
“I just want to play my best game, and show coaches I want to make the team for the world juniors.”
Continued; again, we’re not talking about Johansson becoming a top-pair defenseman, but he certainly looks like a player who’s going to become a professional who can contribute as a two-way defender.
