https://hockeysverige.se/2020/10/08/hakan-andersson-detroits-draft
Some Hakan quotes on the top three Swedes from the link(via google translate and minor editing from me).
On Raymond and trading back in the first round:
- Yes, we also thought that the three who went top-three would go top-three. Had any of them fallen down to our choice, we would have had to have a discussion about who we would choose. But we probably had four, five names that we talked about and that we really liked and it ended up with Lucas coming out on top of them.
- There were a number of different scenarios. We talked about what we would do if someone wanted the fourth choice and offered something in return for us to jump down to election six or seven and things like that. Had we got an equally good player then? But in the end, everyone was very excited that we got Lucas.
On WW and how he is the next Hedman:
- It was a gift from above when he landed in the second round, so we could pick him then. I can say as such, that if we had chosen somewhere between pick 20 and 31 in the first round, I would have discussed Wallinder quite hard.
- He's a fine raw material. Someone told me that Hedman had taken part in some training with Modo, and then many had commented on the similarities between them. "They skate the same, they carry the puck the same" and things like that. Then he has a long way to go, he is not a finished product in any way. Now he has been up and played a bit with the A-team and there he has had his ups and downs - but there is nothing strange about that. He is still young and gaining experience.
On Niederbach(my favourite):
- This is a super exciting player. He's really in the same category as Lucas Raymond. They are both right hand shots, they are about the same size and this guy's main characteristic is that he has a head that works really fast. Raymond has fantastic hands, Niederbach is also sharp there. They are similar in many ways.
- Many teams talk about the players as "top-six" or "bottom six-forwards" and we see that Niederbach has the potential to become a top six-forward in a few years.
A knee injury spoiled the entire 2018-2019 season for the Frölunda talent, and the way he recovered from it impresses Håkan Andersson.
- Such a thing is weighed in as a positive trait. When he started playing hockey again last year, he had not played in 14 months, I think. Still, he basically came in the top ten in the points league in the junior series, and then he played against players who were one or two years older than him. Then you saw what potential he has.
On CatboysRossi's Hijacking Theory and picking swedes:
- I have worked for Detroit for 30 years and it is clearly most of those who are in the club now. That discussion comes up at regular intervals and I am the first to say "screw what it says in the passport - choose the best players"
- Steve Yzerman knows that if we choose a Swede, they are easily socially adapted, they speak good English, they are good at adapting tactically and things like that. But we do not hunt Swedes. We chase good hockey players regardless of nationality. Then we know that Swedes are in a certain way, if you are to generalize, while Russians are in a way, Finns in a different way and Czechs have their special characteristics. But in the end, it's the best hockey player we want. It does not matter what nationality the player has.
