2020 Flames First Round Targets: Helge Grans

Grans is an offensive defenseman with great size and a right-handed shot which is always valuable. He is a great skater who glides very smoothly and is very good at using his edges. Grans makes very good breakout passes and he loves to join the rush. His passing skills are very good but he also owns a good shot, although he should use it more and work on his accuracy as well. Grans has a lot of room for improvement in his defensive game. He is far more likely to be used on the power play than on the penalty kill which speaks volumes about his strengths and weaknesses. But his biggest weakness right now is his decision-making which can be baffling at times. He can make good decisions with the puck most of the time but the mistakes he makes are massive and unexplainable.

Despite the flaws in his game, Grans owns some of the best physical tools in the draft, so a team that trusts him to figure things out could select him in the first round. But a more likely scenario is that he gets drafted in the second round. Grans will likely spend the majority of this season in the SHL and he is also expected to play a big role for Team Sweden at the U18 Worlds, so he definitely has a good opportunity to improve his draft stock before June.

Grans’s overall defensive game is adequate but inconsistent. The best explanation for that assessment is that the difference is split between impressive smothering performances and bench-worthy stinkers. He utilizes his long reach and quick feet to react to rapid changes in puck travel and will apply hard shoves to try and knock an opponents off balance. You rarely see Grans stapled to the low slot and he will pounce on forwards near the half wall with proper timing, especially on the penalty kill. Grans appears more than willing to assume risk when he activates in any zone and it seems as if his partner at every level understood this. The results were more mixed on the international level, however, as Grans needed to bailed out time and again for either overcommitting far from the danger areas or treating the puck like a hot potato. He isn’t overly physical and can be loosey-goosey with his gap coverage and crease protection, although his stick work and hand-eye coordination are impressive. These traits likely explain why he was used sparingly on the penalty kill.