Jonas Junland

History

2005-06: Junland had incredible development this past season, being the highest scoring defenseman in the Swedish juniors. His numbers, 40 points including 17 goals in 32 games, are quite remarkable for a defenseman. He added about 16 pounds of muscle before this past season and it had a very good affect on his play.

2006-07: Junland played most of his season with SEL finalist Linkopings. He fared well, despite his youth, and enjoyed an excellent playoff run, which saw him net five points in 15 games. He also played briefly with the junior team and in Allsvenskan league in preparation for the World Juniors, a tournament where he was one of Team Sweden’s top players.

2007-08: Junland played in a career-high 52 games for Linkopings HC (SWE) this season. The blueliner recorded three goals and 17 assists, and added another seven points (4g+3a) in 16 postseason games.

2008-09: In his first taste of North American hockey, Junland was a potent offensive defenseman for the AHL's Peoria Rivermen. He scored 13 goals, 18 assists for 31 points in 70 games, earning a spot in the AHL All-Star game. He skated in 5 playoff games with Peoria, scoring 1 assists and 6 PIMs. He also made his NHL debut with St. Louis, but did not score in 1 game.

2009-10: Junland again spent much of the season with Peoria, scoring 14 goals, 30 assists in 74 games. His 44 points led the team's defensemen and his 11 power play goals led the entire team. He played in the AHL All-Star game for the second consecutive year and got a little longer look in St. Louis, appearing in 3 NHL games and notching 2 assists.

2010-11: Junland was tendered a qualifying offer by the Blues in June 2010 but chose to sign a one-year contract with Farjestads BK in Sweden's Elitserien. He scored 5 goals with 17 assists and was +7 with 18 PMs in 41 regular season games. Farjestads finished tied with HV71 and Skelleftea atop the league standings with 96 points and won the playoff title. In 14 playoff games Junland scored 3 goals with 3 assists and was +8 with 12 PMs.
 

Talent Analysis

Junland is a good skater and has fine hands. Hockey sense is good and big strength of his is the way he gets the puck on the target. Junland has a good shot that is very accurate. Looking at the parts of his game that Junland should improve, his defensive awareness could still use some fine tuning. He could also play more determined and more physical at times. Also, sometimes Junland tends to overwork easy situations.

Future

Junland is now playing for Astana Barys in the KHL.