Rangers Draft Late Riser Nils Lundkvist at No. 28

DALLAS -- Gordie Clark, the Rangers' Director of Player Personnel, can still remember the first time he saw defenseman Nils Lundkvist play.
It was January and Clark was wrapping up a long, tiring trip through Europe when he got the call from several of his scouts, including Nick Bobrov, the head of the organization's scouting efforts in the region, telling him to head to Gothenburg to see the 17-year-old defenseman play for Lulea against Frolunda.

"They dropped the puck and he just took it and just took off and went through the whole team," Clark said of Lundkvist, whom the Rangers selected Friday night with the 28th pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. "I was awake and excited about where I was."
Lundkvist, who won't turn 18 until late July, described himself as a "skilled, two-way defenseman that can play in both ends," and who possesses "great hockey sense and great skating."
Lundkvist is coming off a strong season in Sweden, split between its top league, the Swedish Hockey League, and SuperElit, the top junior circuit. He had two goals and three assists for five points with Lulea in the SHL, numbers that were good enough for third in goals and points and was tied for third in assists among players younger than 18 in the SHL. He was one of just 10 defensemen younger than 18 to play at least one game.
"Nils is a really good skater," said Patric Kjellberg, a European scout for the Blueshirts. "He's got really good jump. He plays both ways. He's a really good, two-way defensive player with an upside on his offense."

Lundkvist had three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 26 games with Lulea's junior team on his way to being named the Best Defenseman of the SuperElit. He saw his stock rise dramatically in the NHL Central Scouting rankings of European skaters, moving up 27 slots from the midterm to No. 14 on the final list.
The youngster said he liked watching his fellow Swedish defensemen in the NHL, including Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and Oliver Ekman-Larson, though he also compared himself to Pittsburgh's Kris Letang.
When he heard his name called on Friday night, Lundkvist found it difficult to put into words what the feeling was like.
"I was so glad," he said. "I had a lot of emotions at the same time. [I] really couldn't believe that it happened. It's unbelievable."