Christoffer Ehn was one of the more surprising “oh yeah, he’s here too...for the whole season?” players last season. With so much focus on the defensive lineup, Ehn just sorta showed up and stuck around. Like a bodega cat.

Our 4th line was a classic Jeff Blashill Bingo Wheel Of Doom™ situation, and Ehn slotting in wasn’t particularly flashy, but when he was noticeable, it usually was for a positive reason. And that’s about as much as you can hope for from a young 4th liner these days.

Vitals

Position: C/LW

Shoots: Left

Born: April 05, 1996 (23 years old)

Birthplace: Lidköping, SWE

Height/Weight: 6’3” / 181 lbs

Drafted: 2014, Round 4, #106 Overall, Detroit Red Wings

Stats

Red Wings: 60 GP, 3G / 6A, 6 PIM

Griffins: 17 GP, 2G / 5A, 8 PIM

22nd on last year’s Top 25 Under 25 list

Strengths:

Ehn leans more towards defensive responsibility than offensive playmaking, which makes him a solid asset for not only a bottom line anchor but also a penalty killing role. He showed a lot of improvement coming out of last preseason and didn’t seem to show signs of rust while bouncing in and out of the Wings lineup.

Christoffer Ehn: *does literally anything*

Me: pic.twitter.com/9lhfPfyUgz

— Kyle M. (@KyleWIIM) February 10, 2019

Weaknesses:

He’s not a point machine and can have the Wings problem of pass first, shoot never (loudly implies Filppula - remember how he’s on the team again?). One of Ehn’s biggest challenge is the same facing many of our young forwards—standing out.

We aren’t short on forwards who can slot in and not muck everything up beyond repair in the first 10 seconds, so Ehn has to find a way to stand out. Given how rapidly we’re now filling up our prospect pipeline from the draft, being well-rounded isn’t enough to secure your spot.

Looking Forward

Given that he ended up in Detroit earlier, and for longer, than anyone really expected. He is on track to compete for the 4th line center role, and at the very least should be a go-to utility man for injury plague situations.

Let’s Go Red Wings!