6’6″ prospect Vilmer Alriksson will move from Sweden to the OHL’s Guelph Storm this season

This is not the first 6’6″ fourth-round pick import player for the Storm. Alexei Toropchenko was selected 113th overall in the 2017 draft and he immediately reported to Guelph for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Toropchenko has now played in 97 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues.

Alriksson was selected 34th overall in the CHL import draft. He had 12 goals and nine assists in 43 J20 Nationell (Sweden’s top junior league).

The obvious thing to like about Alriksson is his 6’6″ size but we love that he is making such an early commitment to developing in North America. We can easily see Alriksson being added to the AHL roster once he plays two full seasons of OHL hockey.

There’s a tough adjustment ahead of Alriksson as the OHL is very different from the J20 Nationell. The OHL is quicker and more physical but the play is more bogged down and not as fluid as the J20 Nationell. This move gives Alriksson to develop in the second-best junior league in the world and it will open up easy-access doors to Abbotsford. We expect Alriksson to land in a good spot with the Storm. They are a team on the come-up in the OHL and if Alriksson can develop some penalty-killing skills, that would be excellent, given his size and reach. Last year, in the 59 games we tracked, Alriksson played 35:19 on the penalty kill. It is something he can do and we hope that the Storm use him while shorthanded next season.

The Canucks now have three prospects set to play in the OHL next year. Defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev will be with the Soo Greyhounds while Hunter Brzustewicz will play for the Kitchener Rangers.

We will be following along with Alriksson as he makes the jump to North America but we see this as a positive news story.

It also helps that the Canucks have a solid relationship with the Guelph Storm. The Canucks had multiple invites from the Storm at their development camp. There’s also a relationship there with former Canucks associate coach Scott Walker now the president and co-owner of the Storm.

This also allows Alriksson to be eligible for the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton.

Overall, we love the decision from Alriksson to pack up and move to the OHL. It’s a small win but we are excited to follow the story.