The New Jersey Devils were certainly paying attention to their team’s inability to finish last season. The Devils selected the sublimely talented Swede Mattias Tedenby with the 24th overall selection in the 2008 Entry Draft.

Tedenby is a small, but very gifted offensive player. He has elite speed, skating ability and technical skills to more than compensate for his small stature. At 5’10, 176 pounds, he’s not a big forward but he has tremendous tenacity and is always willing to challenge his opponents in the corners.

He’s also quite a sight when he’s stick-handling in traffic at top speed. He’s an exciting player that has the ability to lift fans out of their seats any time he touches the puck. Tedenby has got the skill to be a top ten pick, but his draft status was hurt due to his small frame.

But, Tedenby does not see his height as a burden.

“I can prove to everyone that I can play in the NHL at my size,” said Tedenby to NHL.com. “Look at Patrick Kane – he’s my size and he had a good year in the NHL his rookie season. Martin St. Louis is a quick forward who can score goals.”

This past fall he received a promotion to the Swedish Elite League team HV-71 after a fantastic start to the season with the junior HV-71 team. Tedenby played very well as one of the youngest players in the league. While he did not receive a large amount of ice time because of his age and inexperience, he proved he could handle playing amongst men and helped his club to a championship.

On the international stage, Tedenby had an outstanding World Junior Championship tournament playing for Sweden’s U20 team. He was arguably the best player on the ice for the Swedes picking up eight points in six tournament games.

Pierre McGuire raved about his speed and ability on TSN during the draft saying that “he can flat-out fly” and “he has unbelievable speed.”

Director of European Scouting Goran Stubb compared him to a young Saku Koivu. Tedenby has also drawn comparisons to Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning, one of the names he brought up himself during his interview with NHL.com.

Stubb praised his offensive talents as well.

“Mattias is excellent on every shift. He has outstanding speed, stick work and work ethic. He is small but fearless – he takes hits and always comes back. He creates scoring chances with his outstanding skating and is very difficult to stop when he is at full speed. He has excellent balance and quick, smooth hands, but needs to improve on his defensive awareness.”

Indeed, one of the knocks on Tedenby’s game is that he does not yet backcheck very well and needs to improve his defensive awareness in his own zone. It has also been said that he can be too offensive-minded at times.

However, New Jersey is like the perfect place for him to learn those skills and become a more complete NHL player. Tedenby will benefit from the Devils two-way approach to the game and that will help turn him into a better all-around player.

Tedenby immediately becomes one of the best offensive prospects in the Devils talent pipeline. Along with another skilled Swede, Nicklas Bergfors, he has the potential to be a legitimate top-six forward which New Jersey is sorely lacking in their system.

Although it was an unexpected pick, the Devils may have struck gold with the supremely gifted young forward. He will likely play a full year for HV-71 in the SEL, but could make his North American arrival shortly thereafter. He has all the necessary tools to be an excellent offensive player in the NHL.

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