NHL draft tracker: Oscar Dansk, Brynas U20

Oscar Dansk has already played extensively in North America, which means the smaller ice surface won't be alien to him if he plays junior in Canada next season.

Re-adapting to the concept of billeting might take some adjustment. The Swedish netminder, who was the second-ranked European goalie in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking, did something that would be fairly rare for an 18-year-old player in Canada, living in his own apartment while playing for the Brynäs under-20 team in Gävle, Sweden. Having to do his own cooking and cleaning was just another responsibility to take on for the 6-foot-2½, 186-pound goalie, who split his teens between his homeland and the famed Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Faribault, Minnesota. Brynäs

"I've lived away from my family since I was 13 so we've kind of gotten used to it," says Dansk, who backed Sweden to a silver medal this spring at the IIHF world under-18 championship. "It's only about two hours away from home so it's not that far. My mom's really good at helping me out."

With his size and solid technique, Dansk is in the running with the Belleville Bulls' Malcolm Subban and Russian world junior starter Andrei Vasilevski to be one of the first goalies taken at this weekend's NHL draft. The Stockholm native had a 2.82 average and .910 save percentage for the Brynäs U20 team this season. He truly shone when he wore the Tre Kronor, posting a .971 save percentage during last fall's World Junior A Challenge in Langley, B.C. and a .937 at the U18 worlds in the Czech Republic.

Dansk indicated during the NHL combine that he is contemplating playing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. The defending OHL champion London Knights have traded up to pick No. 9 overall in next week's CHL import draft, which has been taken as a strong suggestion they might draft Dansk to replace CHL goalie of the year Michael Houser. In any event, Dansk seems to have the components to be a future NHL starter. He's not about to become complacent, though.

"I need to get stronger in my movements, quicker in my movements, be better in my positioning," he says. "Those are going to be really important in the future."

1. What did you feel you improved on this season?

"I think I'm better at my positioning. Starting at the beginning of the season, I was kind of surprised at myself that I did that jump that I wanted to make."

2. Between your years at Shattuck and your return to Sweden, how much have you benefited from getting experience with both the North American and European games, the different sized rinks?

"It's great. I think I have that advantage now of playing on both sizes. First of all, Shattuck helped me grow a lot as person."

3. You have to have your own style, but which NHL goaltenders do you study closely?

" [New York Rangers goalie Henrik] Lundqvist's details are pretty interesting. That's probably the goalie I've been most fascinated with."

4. What drew you to goaltending?

"It was a pretty tough decision. I was a pretty good forward when I was eight, nine years old. But I felt I had really good resources to become a goalie. I really liked being put in pressure situations. I've always been a competitor."

5. You're noted for handling the puck well, have you ever scored a goal?

"I came close in a U18 game this year, I was probably about five feet away. I wanted that one. I've scored on myself enough times and it's not fun."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet .