The Ottawa Senators have some great prospects in their system and Jakob Silfverberg is one of the best of them.
After dominating in the Swedish Elite League last season, he’s making the transition to North American hockey while playing for AHL Binghamton. If it wasn’t for the lockout, he might have started the season with Ottawa.
Given his Swedish roots, the comparisons to Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson aren’t surprising, but Senators director of player development Randy Lee sees a lot of similarities between the two beyond their nationality.
“Both very conscientious workers, not overly vocal guys, but lead by example in the way they practice and the way they compete in games,” Fox said. “They’re both very mature people. Compared to anybody else we have, (Silfverberg) is the guy that most exemplifies some of the attributes that Alfie possesses.”
Silfverberg scored 13 goals in SEL’s Brynas IF Gavle playoff run to break the record set by Alfredsson in 2005, when he rejoined the Swedish Elite League during the previous lockout.
Silfverberg is adjusting to the smaller North American rinks. Eventually the lockout will end and Silfverberg will get a chance to pick up where he left off when he joined Ottawa during the 2012 playoffs.