2009 NHL Entry Draft - Up Close: Tim Erixon

Tim Erixon

Defense
Born February 24 1991 -- Port Chester, New York
Height 6.00 -- Weight 180 -- Shoots L45 Games Played
2-5-7
12 PIM

The son of former NHL checking forward Jan Erixon, Tim was born in the United States but came to fame through the hockey program of his motherland, Sweden. For some reason or another, Tim was loaned out to the Malmo Redhawks from his Elitserien team Skelleftea HC.

What I paid the post attention to when they were describing him was his dual ability to play both offense and defense reliably. Though he is primarily touted for his puck rushing ability, the fact that so many scouts speak highly of his defensive reliability is probably a good indication of how readily his skills would translate to a North American style of defense.

Though Oliver Ekman-Larsson gets most of the favourable comparisons to Niklas Lidström, I think the reality is that Tim Erixon is probably a better comparison. When it comes to Ekman-Larsson, nobody speaks about his defensive smarts, and this is pure conjecture, but Erixon may be the more mature, more NHL-ready of the two Swedish defenseman.