The Wild Might Have Something With Newly Drafted Defensemen Theodor Hallquisth – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild selected five players in last month’s NHL draft, in which they had a second-round pick, three fourth-round selections, and a fifth-rounder. Despite not having a high pick, Judd Brackett and his staff believe they were able to find some value in the draft. 

The team selected defensemen Theodor Hallquisth and Justin Kipkie in the second and fifth rounds, respectively. They also took forwards Adam Benak, Lirim Amidovski, and Carter Klippenstein in the fourth round.

Now that free agency has come and gone and the offseason is hitting full swing, I thought it’d be a good time to do a deep dive on the Wild’s newest crop of prospects. What types of players are these guys, and what exactly should Wild fans expect from them?

I spent some time watching film to see what I could learn. Here’s what I discovered, starting with Hallquisth. 

Theodor Hallquisth (D) 

2nd round, pick No. 52 

Hometown: Täby, Sweden 

6-foot-2, 187 pounds

Shoots: Right

Hallsquith’s passing is my favorite thing about his game. The pace of his passes is usually correct for the situation, and he excels at finding seams on outlets. Hallquisth also recognizes the time and space to deliver short passes that relieve pressure. 

He isn’t offensively gifted and his hands aren’t great, but Hallquisth makes a lot of good touches and understands how to use his size and reach to find lanes and fend off attackers.

Hallquisth also makes some nice, quick dekes to buy himself time with the puck. His ability to read the play up ice makes me confident he’ll remain a strong puck mover as he moves up levels. He doesn’t have a hard shot, but he could work on leveraging his stick and flex to generate more power. However, he can get accurate shots off quickly.

I’m not sold on Hallquisth’s skating, though, and if he doesn’t make the NHL, I think his skating will be the reason. He doesn’t get a lot of power on his first strides, which can be halting and awkward, and I’m skeptical as to whether that’s something that he can develop. For many players, that can just be a matter of natural physical ability.

He’s also awkward when crossing over at speed, but that seems fixable with increased strength and some coaching. On a positive note, Hallsquith moves well laterally for a player his size, which suggests that he may have enough natural physical attributes to overcome his skating deficiencies over time and become an adequate skater to defend in the NHL.

Hallsquith reads plays well when defending and gets a good push off his backward skating and lateral movement, meaning he can defend against speed, especially when he can take advantage of his long reach. He can surprise players with a well-timed poke check or step into a lane and deny space. 

His lack of power with first strides means that he can get caught in his own zone when he has to switch quickly or recover on a broken play. However, his ability to use his reach means he often disrupts plays by getting into lanes.

Lastly, his physical play is a definite strength, exemplifying how he effectively uses his size. When combined with his strong play reading and lateral movement, he can really step up and pop guys at the blue line. 

Hallsquith also effectively shuts down forechecks when he gets good body positioning down low. He can be overaggressive sometimes and go for hits at the wrong time, leaving him unable to recover or hanging a teammate out to dry, but that’s common with young players. Good coaching and development can iron out the flaws in his game.

Outlook

If Hallquisth’s skating improves enough to keep him from being a liability at the NHL level, I think he has a chance to become an NHL regular. He already plays a disciplined, pro-style game, and his puck-moving and recognition of time and space are advanced for his age. 

It will likely be a couple of years before he’s ready to make the jump to the AHL. Next season, expect to see him spend a good chunk of the year in the top Swedish league, where he plays in Orebro HK’s system. I’d expect him to arrive in Iowa in 2027-28, although a lot can happen between now and then, and the Wild retain his rights until June 2029.

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