Do we have any thoughts on how quickly Runblad will adjust to the grind of the NHL?

A new culture, tons of travel, etc, etc...

Shouldn't be too long, I think. Similar to Karlsson's adjustment period. He's had more development too.

Sweden isn't that much different from Canada/US, and they have travelled a lot before for tourneys and games.

Plus I said this in another thread in the past, but Ottawa is currently building one of the biggest Ikea's in North America. He'll feel right at home.

Reub,

I'm not sure what to expect really, but my gut says think Ekman-Larsson last year (with more points). Rundblad will get his chance, but if he appears overwhelmed or starts to struggle, he'll see time in the A to log a ton of time and boost his confidence.

If Gonchar misses a stretch I think Rundblad will be the likely candidate to gobble his PP minutes - that will give us a nice glimpse of what the young Swede can do. I really want to see the Karlsson/Rundblad PP duo in action.

As great a league as the SEL is, the NHL is a different beast. Rundblad will have to master another language (or two) and will be tested by big, physical forwards and more intense media scrutiny. I can imagine the daily travel being worse too.

If the stars perfectly align for Rundblad, we could be looking at this year's Cam Fowler. But more realistically, he'll have ups and downs and put together a respectable 26-32 points (maybe 30-35 over if 78-82 GP).

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6-GM /Wk. H2H
[Skaters] G=2, A=1, PP/SH= +1, GWG= +2, Shootout G=1 / [*D-Men Bonus]: G=3/A=2
[Goalies] W=3, OTL=1, SO= +2, SV= .10

Start= 13F, 6D, 2G /Keep 40 [2G Max]
[F] Backstrom, P.Kane, Kopitar, Perry, E.Staal, Spezza, Z-berg, Nash, Vanek, Couture, B.Ryan, Eberle, J.Staal, D.Brown, Lucic, Tarasenko, JvR, T.Ennis, Gallagher, Armia, Teravainen
[*D] Karlsson, P.Subban, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Doughty, Yandle, Chara, Kronwall, Visnovsky, J.Johnson, E.Johnson, Myers, J.Faulk, A.Larsson, J.Morrow, M.Rielly
[G] Price, Rask, M.Smith

I can't help but think that with Karlsson and Gonchar ahead of Rundblad he may not have the offensive season some are expecting, I think he has the ability but might not have the opportunity.

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12 team points only keeper (G = 1, A = 1, W = 2, SO = 2)
Dress 6 forwards, 4 defensemen, 2 goalies
Roster limit - 20 plus 4 prospects


Forwards: Crosby, Malkin, Backstrom, Seguin, Kunitz, Wheeler, Silvferberg, Berglund, Johansson

Defense: Yandle, Letang, Shattenkirk, Byfuglien, Larsson, Josi

Goalies: Niemi, Halak, Vokoun

Prospects: Yakupov, Barkov, Drouin

Agreed. My projection is 22 points or so.

where are they building the ikea?

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911

Right where the current one is. Pinecrest

Gross....

That was a serious overpayment in my opinion.

Rundblad + Franson >> a 1st
Camms >> Ladd
JVR = Subban

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

I agree that I overpaid but I don't compare pieces like that in trades. You could rearrange them however you like to make your argument. It's silly.

and Subban >> JVR for my league. By quite a bit. But I wouldn't compare them anyway.

Big Ev's trade was with me and to be honest I had trouble pulling the trigger on it ..... in our league shots and Pims are counted at .05 and .1 respectively and that makes SUbban very valuable. I really wanetd JVR adn Rundblad so I did it, it took me like 3 days to make up my mind, lol.

Anyways, I agree that some of the first season projections for Rundblad are a little wild. I would put him ahead of Ekman-Larsson development wise (OEL played a league lower didnt he?) as he has played against the best men in sweden for 3 full seasons but I do think there will be an adjustment period and if gonchar stays healthy they have to utilize him in offensive situation where he is most effective.

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ASKL - 10 Team dynasty,G/A=1,PIM=.1,+/- =.2 SOG=.05 (W=2,SO=3) Keep 12F 6D 2G 8BN + farm
F-Perry,Ryan,Giroux,Stastny,Ribeiro,Krejci,Plekanec, JvR,Bergeron,Fleischmann,Grabovski,Cammalleri
D-Letang,Chara,Edler,Boyle,Giordano,Gardiner,
G-Rinne,Crawford
Bench-Bernier,Reimer,Parenteau,Callahan,Downie,Kulemin, Meszaros,Nikitin
Farm- Namestnikov,Khoklachev,Rundblad,Despres,Jensen, L.Adam,Barberio,Galiev,Telegin,Hertl,Aberg