It’s pretty appropriate that a young hockey played nicknamed “JFK” was drafted by the Boston Bruins.
That’s right, the Black and Gold selected Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson with the 45th selection in the second round of last weekend’s NHL Draft in Florida.
The 6’1”, 190 lb. center is a native of Stockholm, Sweden, and is committed to play at Boston University next season. So Boston hockey fans will get well-acquainted with “JFK”, and it sounds like his game will look pretty familiar to a player already suiting up in Black and Gold.
“He’s a good two-way guy that’s going to BU,” said B’s assistant general manager Scott Bradley. “I’m using this lightly, but he’s got a little [Patrice] Bergeron in him. He’s a smart IQ, great in the face-off circles, and another guy that when our scouts saw him they came away impressed. He was on our radar most of the year. He had some injury problems down the stretch in the playoffs, but I think we’ve got a high quality player there.”
JFK played the last two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, and led the junior club with 53 points (15 goals and 38 assists) in 50 games. He won gold with Sweden at the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, kicking in five points during the six-game tourney, and also represented Sweden at both the 2013 and 2014 Under-18 World Junior Championship.
The 18-year-old said he actually models his game after Bergeron, and said he was incredibly excited to hear his name called by the Bruins at the BB&T Center on Saturday afternoon.
“One of the players that I watch the most is Patrice Bergeron. He’s one of the guys I try to learn a lot from, and a guy who does the right things on the ice,” said the Swedish teenager. “It’s just the way he impacts the game.
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“Whether he scores or not, he can make a difference for his team. He can help his team in so many ways. He can win face-offs, he can set up his teammates and he can score goals.”
If Forsbacka Karlsson can do those things for the Terriers and the Bruins after that, then the city of Boston has itself a pretty good hockey player for the foreseeable future.