As seen on YouTube: I’m not Swedish, but I know a pretty sweet pass when I see one.
The Specs: Selected just five picks after Archambault, the 6’1″, 192-pound Magnus Nygren is a puck-moving defenseman from Karlstad, Sweden who spent last season with the Farjestads BK of the Swedish Elite League, where he registered four goals and eleven assists in 22 games, and was part of the 2011 SEL Championship-winning squad.
The Skinny: Power-play specialist who shoots right (!) with a good set of skills and hockey sense. Turned it up in the playoffs to become a reliable point-producer on the man advantage and was, both before and during their championship run, an important piece of the puzzle.
The Stats:
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2009-10 | Farjestads BK Karlstad | SEL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2009-10 | Mora IK | Swe-1 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | -7 | |||||
| 2010-11 | Farjestads BK Karlstad | SEL | 22 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 4 | -2 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 6 |
| 2010-11 | Bofors IK | Swe-1 | 35 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 10 | ||||||
What you’ve probably heard by now: Nygren was aged 21 when he was drafted. His birthday is June 7th, 1990 (which makes him a Gemini, in case you were wondering). Overage Euro picks aren’t a first with the Habs, and they’ve found quite a bit of success with the Bleu Blanc Rouge before.
What you may not know: Nygren counts current and former NHL-ers as having been his teammates with Farjestad. They include Christian Berglund, Alexander Salak and the Caps’ Marcus Johansson. Prospects Jonas Brodin (10th overall, Minnesota) and Oscar Klefbom (19th overall
, Edmonton) are part of his draft class.
NHL Comparable: Hockey’s Future compares him to Marc-Andre Bergeron (but before we buy into that, give the guy a chance!). His defensive game does allegedly need work, though let’s hope it’s not quite to that extent.
Next season…?: The blueliner is expected to return home to hone his skills for another year in the Swedish Elite League before re-evaluating his status with the Canadiens.
Social Media User?: Unlikely. His name is pretty popular in the Twitterverse, but there’s no evidence that any of the Magnus Nygrens there are actually him.
interesting pick by Timmons/Gauthier.
i assume he will head to AHL after next year eh?
[…] Magnus Nygren: 21 years old, 6’1”, 191 pounds, RH […]