Joel Lundqvist's back in Frölunda

Not much going on at the moment, so I have been enjoying the summer. Here are some news though.

Since May, there has been articles now and then about forward Joel Lundqvist and where he will play next season. Lundqvist played for the Dallas Stars last season and had a rough season with injury problems that made him miss half of the season. Dallas ended up not re-signing him, so he became an UFA this summer.

Most have pointed towards Lundqvist going to his old SEL team Frölunda, unless something interesting would come up at the other side of the pond, and now it's official. According to Lundqvist's agent, Lars Cederström, he will play for Frölunda and if the contract wasn't signed yesterday, it will be within the next few days. The contract is on six years with a clause (NHL-out clause I'm guessing) after each season according to the agent.

Frölunda now got 16 forwards under contract and players like Washington's first round pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, Anton Gustafsson, and Atlanta's 34 overall pick in 2009, Carl Klingberg, could be two of the first ones to be loaned out to the affiliated team Borås in HockeyAllsvenskan.
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More draft predictions

Time for some more 2009 NHL Draft predictions from Sweden. This time from the creator of EliteProspects, Johan Nilsson and his blog.

Nilsson has tried to predict where Swedish players will go in the draft. He thinks 29 Swedes will be drafted, which would be 12 more than last year.

SEL: Swedish Elite League (top league in Sweden)
SWE-2: HockeyAllsvenskan (division under SEL)
SWE-3: Division 1 (division under SWE-2)
U18 and U20: The U18/U20 leagues in Sweden
OHL: Ontario Hockey League
USHS: United States High School
*: Player has been passed over in earlier draft(s).

1st round
Victor Hedman, D, MODO (SEL) - Top 3
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand (SWE-2) - Top 10
Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson, LW, Timrå (SEL) - Top 10
David Rundblad, D, Skellefteå (SEL) - Top 20
Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgården (SEL) - Top 25
Tim Erixon, D, Skellefteå (SEL) - Top 30

2nd Round
Carl Klingberg, RW, Frölunda (U20)
Marcus Johansson, C/LW Färjestad (SEL)
Anton Lander, C/LW, Timrå (SEL)
Robin Lehner, G, Frölunda (U20)

3rd round
Jakob Silfverberg, RW/LW, Brynäs (SEL/U20)
Anton Rödin, LW, Brynäs (U20)
Simon Bertilsson, D, Brynäs (SEL/U20)

4th round
Henrik Björklund, RW, Skåre (SWE-3)
Alexander Urbom, D, Djurgården (U20)
Anton Blomqvist*, D, Malmö (SWE-2/U20)
Mattias Lindström, LW/C, Skellefteå (U20)

5th round
Anders Nilsson*, G, Luleå (U20)
Marcus Krüger*, C/RW, Djurgården
Jonathan Johansson, C, Frölunda (U20)

6th round
Patrik Cehlin, RW, Djurgården (U20)
Alexander Fällström, RW, Shattuck St. Mary's (USHS)
Simon Löf, D, Brynäs (U20)
Martin Karlsson, RW, Leksand (U20)

7th round
William Wallén, LW, Mississugua (OHL)
Viktor Svedberg, D, Rögle (U20)
Andreas Gröndahl*, RW, Södertälje (U20)
Simon Önerud*, LW, HV71 (SEL)
Peter Andersson, D, Frölunda (U20)

Right Winger Alexander Fällström (6th round) is the only player seen on this list, who isn't on Hockeymagasinet's Top 50 that I posted earlier.

Johan Nilsson has also listed his five favorite players of those who he doesn't think will be drafted.

1. Markus Nilsson, C, Troja-Ljungby (U20)
2. Hampus Gustafsson, LW, Malmö (SWE-2/U20)
3. Adam Almquist, D, HV71 (U20)
4. Petter Emanuelsson, C, Skellefteå (U20)
5. Mark Owuya*, G, Almtuna (SWE-2)

Markus Nilsson, Hampus Gustafsson and Petter Emanuelsson are players not mentioned in the Top 50, while Adam Almquist is ranked 33th and Mark Owuya is ranked 22th.
Players to keep an eye for the future or maybe even this year's draft?
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09 Draft: Hockeymagasinet's Top 50

Just like last year (here and here), Hockeymagasinet.com's Anders Östberg has ranked the top 50 Swedish players (plus Danish and Norwegian players playing in Sweden) for the 2009 NHL Draft. Östberg's criterias for the ranking is the same as last year, so I will just quote what I said last year.

He mentions in the introduction text to the list, that it's not just about who will turn into the best player. Instead he takes the NHL into consideration (style of playing, small rinks etc) and sees if the player would be able to fill a role there one day. So a player that has the potential to become a great SEL player one day, might still end up lower on the list because he would never fit in the NHL. Also being passed over in earlier drafts will affect the player's ranking.

Ok, here we go!

SEL: Swedish Elite League (top league in Sweden)
SWE-2: HockeyAllsvenskan (division under SEL)
SWE-3: Division 1 (division under SWE-2)
U18 and U20: The U18/U20 leagues in Sweden
OHL: Ontario Hockey League
*: Player has been passed over in earlier draft(s).

1. Victor Hedman, D, MODO (SEL)
2. Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson, LW, Timrå (SEL)
3. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand (SWE-2)
4. David Rundblad, D, Skellefteå (SEL)
5. Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgården (SEL)
6. Tim Erixon, D, Skellefteå (SEL)
7. Carl Klingberg, RW, Frölunda (U20)
8. Anton Rödin, LW, Brynäs (U20)
9. Simon Bertilsson, D, Brynäs (SEL/U20)
10. Marcus Johansson, C/LW Färjestad (SEL)
11. Marcus Krüger*, C/RW, Djurgården (SEL/U20)
12. Alexander Urbom, D, Djurgården (U20)
13. Anton Lander, C/LW, Timrå (SEL)
14. Patrik Cehlin, RW, Djurgården (U20)
15. Andreas Gröndahl*, RW, Södertälje (U20)
16. Mattias Lindström, LW/C, Skellefteå (U20)
17. Viktor Svedberg, D, Rögle (U20)
18. Anton Blomqvist*, D, Malmö (SWE-2/U20)
19. Jakob Silfverberg, RW/LW, Brynäs (SEL/U20)
20. Anders Nilsson*, G, Luleå (U20)
21. Martin Karlsson, RW, Leksand (U20)
22. Mark Owuya*, G, Almtuna (SWE-2)
23. Robin Lehner, G, Frölunda (U20)
24. Simon Löf, D, Brynäs (U20)
25. Peter Andersson, D, Frölunda (U20)
26. Jonathan Johansson, C, Frölunda (U20)
27. Carl Ackered, D, Djurgården (U20)
28. Anton Mylläri, D, Västerås (SWE-2/U20)
29. Ludwig Karlsson, LW, Linköping (U20)
30. William Wallén, LW, Mississugua (OHL)
31. Henrik Björklund, RW, Skåre (SWE-3)
32. Johannes Tornberg*, LW, Luleå (U20)
33. Adam Almquist, D, HV71 (U20)
34. Casper Carning, RW, Frölunda (U20)
35. Dennis Bozic*, D, Linköping (SEL/U20)
36. Stefan Espeland*, D, MODO (SEL/U20) - Norwegian
37. Fredrik Styrman, D, Luleå (SEL/U20)
38. Sebastian Idoff, Frölunda (U20)/Borås (SWE-2)
39. Eddie Läck*, G, Leksand (SWE-2)
40. Mattias Ekholm*, D, Mora (SWE-2/U20)
41. Alexander Andersson*, D, Huddinge (U20)
42. Simon Önerud*, LW, HV71 (SEL)
43. Martin Olsson, C, HV71 (U20)
44. Christian Fohlin, D, Frölunda (U18)
45. Maksim Matushkin*, D, Björklöven (U20)
46. Daniel Brodin*, RW, Djurgården (U20)
47. Viktor Ekbom*, D, Linköping (SEL)/Oskarshamn (SWE-2)
48. Henrik Hetta*, LW, Östersund/Brunflo (SWE-3)
49. John Norman, C, Djurgården (U20)
50. Marcus Guslin*, C, Östersund/Brunflo (SWE-3)
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Pääjärvi - another year in Sweden or...?

Here comes some more news about the Swedish players available for the 2009 NHL Draft.

Left Winger Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson was interviewed by the newspaper Sydsvenskan, where he talks about the NHL Combine that took place about a month ago.

Magnus has said for a while now that he will play one more year with the SEL team Timrå IK before making the jump. This gets confirmed once again in this interview as he says that he told the NHL teams the same thing at the Combine. He also says following to Sydsvenskan though:

- If I get drafted by the right team, then maybe...

Sydsvenskan speculates that the right team could be a team that offers him a lucrative contract with promises of ice time in the NHL right away.

Pääjärvi-Svensson, who started his career in Malmö Redhawks (I love pointing that out), is ranked between 4 and 10 in the upcoming draft by the bigger scouting services.
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Top ranked goalie to Canada next season?

Swedish goalie Robin Lehner is ranked first among European goaltenders in the CSB Final Rankings for the 2009 NHL Draft. He has spent the season in the top U20 league in Sweden with Frölunda and also was one of Sweden's goalies in the U18 World Championship this spring.

He is now looking at taking the next step in his career, which he talks about in an article at Hockeysverige.se. Frölunda's SEL team already got Johan Holmqvist in goal as the clear starter though, so he doesn't think a backup role with very limited ice time would be good for his development.

Is playing on Frölunda's U20 team not an option?
- Ever since I came to Frölunda, I have taken a new step every season: U16, J18, J20. It's really fun to play J20 hockey, but I still want to take a step forward and CHL is the best junior league in world. To play in front of sold-out arenas in Canada would be cool. In J20 you play in front of 25 people in Wallenstamhallen.

Is it the QMJHL, OHL or WHL that entices you?
- I guess it's the WHL I'm aiming for the most. I played an offensive-minded hockey that flings back and forth with Frölunda for three years now. QMJHL is a little bit the same, a very offensive-minded league. WHL has good hockey both defensively and offensively, there will be good games there. Plus there are long bus rides to tough away games that make you well prepared for life over there.

Lehner hasn't counted out the possibility to play for Frölunda next season though and will have a meeting with Frölunda GM Kent Norberg soon. Being loaned out to a team in HockeyAllsvenskan is another option he is open to.
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Random news - Where will the monster go?

Goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who seems to be this year's Fabian Brunnström, has narrowed it down to four NHL teams for next season. According to Aftonbladet, he travelled today to North America to visit Colorado, San José, Dallas and Toronto.

Gustavsson beat Henrik Lundqvist's old SEL playoff record this season for number of minutes without letting a goal in with the new record being 222 minutes and 40 seconds. This accomplishment gave him the nickname "The Monster" in Swedish media, which still lives on.

He ended up leading his team Färjestads BK to the Swedish Championship this year. Then he was awarded The Golden Puck and helped Team Sweden getting the bronze medal in the World Championship in May.

Gustavsson will get the maximum rookie contract no matter where he ends up, so money isn't a factor. Instead he is looking for the team that feels the most right.

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Swedish defenseman Patrik Hersley isn't exactly one of the more known Swedes in North America. This season he has been part of the Philadelphia Flyers, but has only played in the AHL and the ECHL.

After two seasons in the AHL and the ECHL with not much to show for it, he has decided to head back to Sweden. Hersley had one year left on his contract with the Flyers, but will now instead play that year with the team where his career started, Malmö Redhawks in HockeyAllsvenskan.

Hersley is still just 22 years old. So maybe he will make the jump across the pond again one day, if he can get his game going at home.

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Speaking of Malmö Redhawks; Detroit's super scout Håkan Andersson has expressed interest in 19-year-old defenseman Anton Blomqvist, who plays for that team. Andersson says the following to the newspaper Sydsvenskan.

Yes, we are interested. That we are, says Håkan Andersson.

A comment like that from a scout doesn't say much, but I thought it was interesting as the scouting service Redline called Blomqvist "the most underrated player in the draft at any position" just before last year's draft.

In that draft, Blomqvist was passed over. A big reason for this was probably that he basically had not played anywhere beyond the Swedish junior leagues. This year he played with the Swedish U19 national team though and impressed when he got a shot with Malmö's senior team in HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the season.

Andersson describes Blomqvist as a big and mobile defenseman, who needs to add more muscles. I would also add that he got a bit of a mean streak and I must say he became a bit of a favorite of mine because of his finish to the season. Next season he will play full-time on Malmö's senior team.

A player to keep an eye on.
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Rasmus Juell - a name to remember?

Hockeymagasinet.se is reporting that the U20 team of Frölunda has signed a Norwegian center named Rasmus Juell to a 2-year deal. Juell spent last season in North America, playing Midget AAA hockey with Belle Tire Detroit and scored 28 goals and 51 points in 45 games. The 17-year-old was born in 1991 and is eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

So what's so special about that?

Well apparently he is a very skillful player, who has basically popped out of nowhere. For example a search for "juell" in the forum of the big hockey community Hockey's Future gives no results and when the junior hockey gurus at Hockeymagasinet calls a Scandinavian player "unknown", I will take their words for it.

Juell is described by Hockeymagasinet as very skillful offensive center, who is a great skater. He got a good hockey sense with creativity and good technique. A big offensive talent with a lovely sense for scoring goals and a very good shot.

His new coach, Jens Gustavsson, compares him with Danish center Lars Eller, another Frölunda player who went 13th overall in the 2007 NHL Draft.

- We didn't know that much about him. There are a lot of players that want to come to us and we thought that he would have a hard time making it, like many, but he has impressed us greatly. He will play in the first 3 lines for sure and is at the same level as our best players, Jens Gustavsson continues.

It should be said that Frölunda's U20 team is the best in the country and has won the U20 Swedish Championship 3 times in the last 4 years, so a comment like that says a lot about Juell's skill level.

While the SEL team Frölunda hasn't been that good at taking advantage of it, their organization got a knack for finding talented players for their junior teams. For example this year they had Swedish players Erik Karlsson (15th overall) and Anton Gustafsson (21st overall) being taken in the first round of the NHL Draft and Danish forward Mikkel Bødker (8th overall) played in the Frölunda organization before he went to the OHL.

Will Rasmus Juell be another player to add to the group of Frölunda players picked early in an NHL Draft? He should at least be an interesting player to follow this season.
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