Gunderson

Forwards were picked with 22 of the first 23 selections of the second round, but when Moscow claimed Sam Godfrey with the round’s last pick, it started a mini-run of defensemen. Four of them were taken in a 6-pick stretch. The first pick of Round 3 was Ryan Gunderson, a speedy American defenseman who was taken by the Stockholm Eagles. Gunderson, who is thin for a defenseman, was Stockholm’s fourth pick of the draft and they have one more pick remaining. With Gunderson, they will get a guy who loves to get involved in the offense and doesn’t mind taking a hit to make a play. He will be lacking in the stamina department, but that might not be a problem on this team, which is loaded with good defensive prospects. Gunderson won’t get past Zach Bogosian, Cam Fowler and Olli Maatta on the depth chart, so he won’t ever be asked to play 20 minutes a game. He looks to be a 5th or 6th defenseman – higher if he’s traded to some other teams – who could get some powerplay minutes.

Hillding

The St. Petersburg Red Stars also added their fourth draftee in the third round when they picked Swede Joakim Hillding, a right wing. Michele Casteldini had already drafted a center and left wing, as well as a defenseman, and on Friday morning he added a right wing who will compete for ice time with teammate Devante Smith-Pelley in about five seasons. Both are likely to remain below Cam Atkinson on the team’s depth chart. Hillding, only 20, projects to be a balanced two-way player. He is a good skater with decent puck skills. His size (5-10, 180) will play against him a bit.

Maas

The Milan Guerriero entered the draft with four prospect defensemen on the roster but only one blueliner under 25 years of age. They added young depth today by drafting a skater from Belgium. Lorenzo Maas is a little guy (5-9, 177) who is very active on the ice, has good hockey sense, and he likes to get involved in the offense. Most of the young defensemen in the Milan system like to get involved in the offense. Anthony DeAngelo, Josh Morrissey and Ryan Pulock are classified as offensive defensemen and while Brandon Gormley plays a more stabilizing game, he’s 23 and his time to break into the league is growing short.

Pietta

Munich stayed in-country for its third round pick. Daniel Pietta has good size and strength and will play a sound, if not quiet, all-round game for the Dire Wolf. His play is reminiscent of another German forward who had a long pro career: Jochen Hecht. And the 23-year-old Pietta’s time may not be very far away at all. If nothing else changes on the Munich depth chart, he, Andrew Shaw and Charlie Coyle will be battling for 2 open roster spots. It would be to Pietta’s advantage if the coach wants fewer penalties from the right wing, where Shaw, Coyle and Steve Downey all have discipline ratings of 54 or lower. New General Manager Chad Legge has picked four times in the draft and his last two picks have endeared him to fans. Both are Germans.

Ahn

Hyun Min Ahn of South Korea is small as defensemen go (a tad smaller than Maas, in fact) but he hustles his butt off and worries about defensive positioning all the time. And he doesn’t take dumb penalties. Those qualities led to his selection by Dublin GM Brad Denea. Ahn, 24, has five older defensemen and two younger ones to climb over in order to get ice time, but provides useful depth right away for the Fighting Irish.

Arvidsson

Viktor Arvidsson expected to go higher in the draft than he did. Maybe waiting around until Prague took him 54th overall will tell him something. Arvidsson is very skilled and he can really skate well, but the 22-year-old Swede needs to take fewer penalties, get rid of the puck sooner and in general, work a little harder. Bit Cats General Manager Axel Bode has shown he believes in the youngster and will give him a chance to show that he really is as good as he thinks he is. Prague now has three right wings on the roster who are between 22 and 24 years old and part of their future … and perhaps their present. Czech Martin Ruzicka, 24, already has three seasons in and last year he more than doubled his previous point totals by scoring 28 goals and 53 points. If 22-year-olds Tomas Jurco and/or Arvidsson get into the lineup this year, it will be spot duty, but their place on the team isn’t very far away at all.

Marti

Geneva picked up three fresh forwards in the first two rounds of the draft and in round three they plucked a young defenseman off the shelf. Christian Marti, at 18, obviously has some developing to do, but he projects to be a solid two-way player. Of all his attributes, speed and strength are at the top. He’s only 5-11, but he’s got a strong, sturdy build. As young Geneva General defensemen go, Marti is it. The next youngest blueliner is Ilya Nikulin, who is 27. The other six defensemen on the roster are all 30 or older.

Lintuniemi

Alex Lintuniemi, a pretty massive 19-year-old from Helsinki, is part of the Los Angeles Kings organization and today, part of the better Madrid Royals organization. Lintuniemi is a prospect without WSH attributes. He plays defense in much the same way a Hummer plays defense. You don’t want to be in his way when he’s in second gear or higher. He’s been listed at between 6-3 and 6-5 and 230 pounds. Scouts say he passes the puck well but needs to improve his skating and puck handling. Lintuniemiu is currently with Ottawa in the OHL. (Note: Madrid orginally drafted goalie Luka Gracnar but that was because he didn’t have the auto list connected to Round 3. Gracnar was returned to the draft pool.)

Forssell

Swedish center Erik Forssell was expected to be taken in the second round of the draft, but he went instead to the London Dons with the 9th pick of the third round. Scouts don’t see the potential for an explosive point outburst from Forssell, but he will almost assuredly be a reliable guy to have in the lineup. He skates well, plays sound defensive hockey, and hustles. Down the line, he will compete for ice time with Gregory Beron, who the Dons selected in the previous round.

Huml

Young Czech playmaker Ivan Huml was drafted by Stockholm 58th overall. Huml could use the occasional kick in the hockey pants from his coach, but he has talent and skating abililty. The 20-year-old was added to a Stockholm depth chart that includes three other left wings under age 24. Mattias Sjogren should emerge at the top of that young foursome in a few years, with Marcus Foligno also holding down a job, but Huml has a good chance of demoting Michal Bournival in the future.

Letunov

Lisbon H.C. General Manager Bryan Camara did what the Arizona Coyotes did earlier this year: gambled on Maxim Letunov. A little more than a month ago, the Coyotes traded Zbynek Michael and a third-round pick to the St. Blues for Letunov, a 19-year-old skinny rail of a center from Moscow. In 60 games with Youngstown of the USHL two seasons ago, Letunov produced 43 points and about 2 shots per game. This season, he tallied 61 points in 55 games with the same club. Offense is his preference. He is a prospect without Websim attributes.

Kempe

The Jokerit opted for an attributeless prospect in Adrian Kempe. a 6-2 Swede who can play either wing. Kempe is an LA King draft pick who has 17 points in 50 games for MODO in the Swedish league. “Going into this draft, we really wanted one of three particular prospects with this pick,” GM Trevor Grimm said. “Kempe was actually top on our list, but we weren’t sure he’d be there. Eight points in five games at the World Juniors, and he’s playing at an elite level with the legendary Modo program right now. He also plays an intense, physical game, so he will fit right in with us. Hopefully he adjusts to this level the same way Filip Forsberg did.”

Keranen

Michael Keranen, a 6-foot-tall defensive forward from Finland and then Sweden, was then drafted by the Zurich Lions. He has been compared to Minnesota Wild energy forward Erik Haula, but with better passing ability.

Kostner

Bratislava then went with another defensive forward, Diego Kostner, an Italian who GM Chuck Massaro says reminds him a bit of current Eagle center Zemgus Girgensons. Kostner is only 19, but he has good size and is an OK skater. He will remain in the minors for several seasons.

Rosseli Olsen

Mats Roselli Olsen, a hard-nosed Norwegian, joined the Bern Bears. He is expected to be a grinder with speed and intensity. He, Kjetil Martinsen and Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals add a needed dose of youth to the Bern roster.

Noreau

Zurich picked again and took a defenseman from Canada, Maxim Noreau, a hard-charging skater who will be classified as a defensive defenseman. Noreau should be a great addition. Zurich’s roster is currently crowded with 13 defensemen, but if you block out those older than 23, you’re left with Jacob Trouba, Tyson Barrie, Alexander Weiss and then Noreau. All four have PO ratings of 78 or higher.

Englund

St. Petersburg went off the draft list to the prospect pool and took Andreas Englund, a 6-3 defensive defenseman from Sweden who is in the Ottawa Senators system.

McDonald

Minsk grabbed a prospect goalie, Mason McDonald. The teenager is from Nova Scotia and was drafted last June by the Calgary Flames.

Bergman

The Berlin Smurfs also went the prospect route to grab Swedish defenseman Julius Bergman. The 19-year-old has shown a tendency to think offense while playing with the OHL London Knights, but he also shows a lot of toughness. He has 42 points and 78 penalty minutes in 60 games. Bergman was a second-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks of the NHL in 2014.

Gracnar

Edinburgh was granted Slovenian goalie Luka Gracnar after letting the selection deadline pass. Gracnar will be a backup goalie, but a good one. He is fifth on the depth chart right now. When the Capitals’ current starters – Kari Lehtonen and Ilya Bryzgalov – leave the team, James Reimer and Jakub Kovar will be there to fill in. Kovar and Gracnar are six years younger than Reimer. Gracnar will only get his chance when Reimer leaves and he will always remain behind Kovar on the list.

Kouleles

Athens surprised no one by taking the lone Greek draft candidate when they picked at spot number 69. Georgios Kouleles, is a 6-0, 180-pound 20-year-old who projects to be a grinding winger. He should fit the Athens mold and play with energy, toughness and some skill. Athens has been winning with Bryan Bickell and Patrick Dwyer in the lineup and Kouleles will probably end up being better than either of them.

Solomonov

Bratislava traded its third-round pick next season to get one more player this draft and Evgeny Solomonov was their target. The 22-year-old from Belarus is an offense-only option who has slick hands and very high hockey sense. He is a poor skater, however. Bratislava has an incredible 10 right wings on its roster right now and they will have Anthony Mantha growing into a roster spot someday, but they don’t have many playmakers. Solomonov is already their second-best passer behind Marian Hossa, who might have only one more season left in him.

Backman

Paris picked Mattias Backman, a 22-year-old defenseman from Sweden, hoping to have found a diamond in the rough. Jackman is a little like Jared Spurgeon of Lisbon, but without Spurgeon’s blazing speed. The Swede is tiny -5-9, 175 pounds – but aside from the size issue, he has no glaring holes in his game. His chance to play will come when Ossi Vaananen, 29, and Kris Letang, 28, filter out of the team.

Donato

The final pick in the draft was made by Moscow GM Michael Banker when he took a prospect without attributes in Ryan Donato, the Boston-born son of former NHLer Ted Donato. A high scorer in high school, he was drafted by the Bruins and projects to be a fundamentally-sound, reliable forward.