Photo credit: aftonbladet-cdn.se

In the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Draft, George McPhee found a diamond in the rough and selected Swedish defenseman Christian Djoos. Djoos, ranked the 18th-best European skater coming into this past year’s draft, has turned out to be a potential steal, playing regular minutes for the defending champions of the Swedish Elite League, Brynäs (Nicklas Backstrom’s former team). The five-foot, eleven-inch, 158-pound Swede is averaging 14:33 minutes of ice time per game, ranking fourth among all rookies.

Last Friday, during a morning skate and ahead of Brynäs’ away game against Timrå, Djoos suffered a serious knee injury. The Brynäs defenseman was sent into surgery the next day, with many team officials fearing the worst.

But a week later, according to Linus Norberg of Gefle Dagblad, Djoos is back on his feet and his surgically repaired knee has improved to the point where he’s off crutches. The injury wasn’t as severe as first thought.

“I’ve had surgery for the same thing twice before,” said Djoos, who had his meniscus removed during surgery last week.

“I won’t have this problem in the future. It wasn’t a major surgery, and it went well. And I’ve already started lightly training. I’ve already lost the crutches,” the Brynäs defenseman continues.

The injury means that he misses Sweden U20’s Four Nations Tournament in Sundsvall next week and will force him to spend the international break rehabilitating. According to the doctors, Djoos will be fully recovered and ready for play in two weeks.

“It’s a shame I’m missing time with the junior national team [and Caps first-round pick Filip Forsberg]. I was looking forward to it. But I think it might be a blessing, as I’ll miss fewer Elitserien games thanks to the international break.”

If Djoos’s meniscus-free leg can regain full strength and he can continue to build upon his solid play, he may become a serious prospect, following in the foot paths of other late round picks George McPhee has made such as Mathieu Perreault, Andrew Gordon, and Braden Holtby.

Translation lovingly done by Jacob Ware.