This pick at 170 was the pick acquired from the Blackhawks in the Artemi Panarin-Brandon Saad trade. When these blockbuster trades happen, the picks in the trade are an afterthought. In picking Jonathan Davidsson, this pick could very well turn into much more than just a throw in.
Davidsson was an overage pick, selected in his third draft eligible season. He was passed over in the two prior drafts, and if this pick had of happened a couple seasons ago it would have received plenty of criticism. Overaged players used to be thought of as wasted picks and teams should avoid them all together. In recent years however research has been done to show the exact opposite, overaged players are actually quite valuable and in fact underrated in the draft. I dove into this last year when I broke down Calvin Thurkauf. He was initially a player I thought very little about because of his age, but after I went through and read up on overaged prospects (which are linked in that post), I realized how short-sighted I was being. Thurkauf played so well this season, he’s likely a top 10 prospect in the Jackets system, and is ready for the AHL.
Davidsson could very well be on that same path. In that piece on Thurkauf was a link to an article by Quinn MacKeen. MacKeen wrote about European players and how they take longer to develop so to speak because they don’t try and peak at 18 for the draft like CHL players do. This causes European players to get overlooked when they are first draft eligible, and then “burst on to the scene” when they are 19 or 20. We also have to keep in mind; many European players are playing professionally in their countries pro leagues, so they won’t have the big point totals that a CHL player will. The best example of this in recent years would be Viktor Arvidsson. He was passed over three times at the draft and was picked only after he had a huge 40 point season in the SHL. Once he came over to North America it didn’t take him long to become a very good player for the Predators.
Now is Davidsson set to become the next Viktor Arvidsson? It’s unlikely, but he could become a viable NHL player if everything breaks right. Davidsson had a fine season in the SHL this year. He played 44 games and had 12 points. That placed him sixth in the SHL among players under 20 years old. This was a good season and was not the first time Davidsson has had success. In his first draft season Davidsson put up 45 points in 39 games in the SuperElit league. That ranked second in the league among players under the age of 18. His point per game rate of 1.15 placed him eighth but every player above him ended up getting drafted.
His draft +1 season was also very good. Davidsson put up 37 points in 27 games in the SuperElit and also got his first exposure to the pro game playing 12 games in the SHL and nine in the Allsvenskan.
What’s kept Davidsson from being drafted those seasons was that he is not a complete 200 foot player. He skates well with good quickness, and while he's good offensively his defensive game has been non-existent. He passes well, but has a tendency of hanging onto the puck too long and turning it over. He can shoot the puck and has a nose for the net.
Davidsson is not the biggest player at 5’11 and still lacks strength. He gets pushed around by bigger players, which was evident in the SHL. His 12 points this season were good as mentioned but it does put him behind other Swedish prospects and their draft +2 seasons. From 2010-15 there were 44 forwards picked out of Sweden who stayed in Sweden for the two seasons following their draft year. Of those 44 just 16 have ended up playing at least one NHL game. Here is how those players performed in their D+2 season in the SHL compared to Davidsson.
Davidsson has a ways to go before he puts himself onto the prospect radar. Given his skillset he could be in for a big breakout season this year. He has the skills to keep up in the SHL but needs to improve his strength and his defensive side of the game. The good news is the Jackets can be patient with Davidsson. They control his rights for four seasons, so they monitor his development closely before giving him a contract. Davidsson will spend at least one more year in Sweden playing for Djurgardens IF. If he has a big breakout season it won’t be long before he makes the jump over to North America.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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