In-depth breakdown: Felix Unger-Sorum (2023 draft profile)

Felix Unger-Sorum is a very interesting case. He is a Swedish forward who has posted good statistics in the under-20 league in Sweden (46 pts in 42 games in the season and 9 pts in 7 games in the playoffs). His progress is one of the strongest observed in a prospect this season. I discovered him by watching Oscar Fisker-Molgaard’s playoffs games in J20, where he played against Leksand, Unger-Sorum’s team. He had greatly caught my attention. And then, at the U-18 tournament, he was on Sweden’s first line and he was sensational.

He’s one of the smartest players in the draft and that’s mostly expressed in the very wide range of ways he can set the table for his teammates. Unger-Sorum is one of the most diverse playmakers in the draft.

He is possibly the most ‘deceptive‘ playmaker of the entire 2023 crop. He influences his opposition coverage by selling false intent with different body parts alignment. On a shift, he enters the zone on the right side and has his center rushes to the net. Unger-Sorum begins to move towards the goalmouth and suggests through his head, his shoulders, his hips and his wrists that he will pass to his center who was rushing to the net. Opposing defenders played the sequence as a result of what Unger-Sorum let it show by neutralizing his teammate’s body and stick, however, at the last second Unger-Sorum changed his passing angle to pass it back to a teammate who was coming in trailer in the high slot.

He’s also a master at using ‘Off-Looks’ with his head looking at a pass option that won’t be used to clear space for another teammate. Ironically, on another sequence, it is completely the opposite that took place from the one explained earlier. During this one, still coming from the right, he turned his back at the boards while braking and looked at an option at the top of the offensive zone, during this time his center was able to benefit from a higher defensive coverage to slip behind defenders. Unger-Sorum joined him with a brilliant pass without even looking at him. He can also take the opposing defenses off guard by making one-touch passes, greatly reducing the time it takes for his opponents to readjust their attention as well as their position.

Unger-Sorum is a very thoughtful and calculated player who will never force passes into dangerous areas if there are no lanes available to him. He will rather slow down, retrace his steps, try to make the opposing defense move before making a play to avoid losing possession of the puck. This is also something fairly constant in his game: he tends to slow down and wait for a pass option. It’s something that I appreciate in a passer like that, Mavrik Bourque operated in a similar way in 2020. On the other hand, I would like to see him attack defenders with audacity more often, especially in a one-on-one situation.

He also shows signs of very advanced intelligence in his use of passes in open ice. His understanding of space as well as the timing of his teammates is remarkable. He also has great hand dexterity that allows him to be a good puck distributor even on his backhand. This is also his second greatest quality, following his passing skills: his handling of the puck.

He has very good hands, but what makes him particularly skilled is that he incorporates his whole body into his play with the puck. His feet move independently of his hands and he also incorporates a lot of fake with his shoulders to sell misdirection to his opponents. He also manages to widen his skate base to fend off his opponents’ sticks, while remaining in motion, demonstrating very good coordination. The result is quite impressive. He can maneuver through heavy traffic and into the top of the slot as if it were routine plays for him.

Unger-Sorum isn’t the best of skaters, but he does use speed changes to his advantage in one-on-one situations. His poise in possession of the puck is remarkable, which is what allows him to excel so much in the sequences where he delays his games and draws pressure on him before handing over to a teammate. To do this, he needs excellent puck handling that allows him to dribble the puck out of his pursuer’s reach, without having to lower his head, as he may be able to identify the best possible option. Even in his own zone, he never seems to be bothered with opposing pressure.

His hands make him a very skilled shooter too, as he has the ability to change his shooting angles in front of defenders. Dealing with tight defensive cover in front of him and managing to find a shooting lane seems innate to him. He is a natural in this department. Aided by his great vision and intelligence as a passer, he also knows how to influence his opponents’ position on the ice and how to use his teammates to receive the puck in dangerous areas.

The Swede, however, has some work to do on his skating. He is quite agile on his skates and can make good pivots in the corner of the rink but his speed as such is rather average. He would benefit from making this a priority.

It’s a bit of the same observation in terms of his work ethic. He is not lazy on the ice, he shows up in the corners as well as in front of the net, but he does so with no real intention of competing and battling hard. I would like to see him play more aggressively.

What is very interesting in the case of Unger-Sorum and which allows me to insert him in such a position is that in conjunction with his very strong progression in the second half of the season, he is the youngest player of this draft! In fact, he was only one day away from being in the 2024 draft! I feel like he could still have a lot of progress in him. Based on his strengths, I could have placed him even several ranks higher, however, my sampling on him is still quite limited compared to other players, and most importantly, it was condensed into a short period of time , which sometimes influences us to make bad decisions, because we don’t have an overall picture of the player’s season.

Number of games watched : 11