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Leo Carlsson’s start at Tre Kronor is so promising that I want to see him in the restroom.
Joker can make a major international breakthrough.
Just like Finn Patrick Lin who was the same age at WC in Moscow in 2016.
Now Patrick Lane is injury free and out with Columbus and is back in the Finland World Cup squad for the first time since that huge breakthrough seven years ago.
He finished second in the NHL draft later that summer, with only American Auston Matthews.
Today, Lin is 25 years old and an established star in the NHL, though he may not have reached the peak I thought when I saw him make his World Cup debut right there in Moscow.
But now we have a Swede who can follow the same path.
Leo Carlson may finish second in this summer’s NHL draft, being included in the pool behind number one certain Conor Bedard of Canada.
He is one of the best 18-year-olds in the world.
But will he get a chance from Sam Hallam to make his World Cup debut?
We don’t know that yet.
But now that Elias Pettersson is gone, I would like to see another great Swedish talent with huge development potential.
Always one step ahead
Leo made his Tre Kronor debut against Norway last week, but was only tested this evening with world champions Finland on the other side.
Results?
excellent.
He showed that he could even face this opposition.
Not that he shines and attracts attention, but whoever chooses to check him out during a match sees what huge potential there is.
A look at the game and wrists at 190cm and 88k.
He has a hockey brain that is one step ahead at all times.
In the right environment, he could become a World Cup sensation, like many talents before him.
There are no guarantees and then he should get a leadership role and a captain of the national team that he firmly believes in.
He was the MVP of the entire tournament
It’s not that I demand Leo Karlsson, but it would be interesting to see the captain of the Swedish national team dare to bet on a young Swedish talent who broke records.
As Finland did with Patrick Lane in 2016.
He had not yet turned 18 when the tournament began, but by the time it was over, he had earned the MVP of the entire tournament.
In addition, he was named the WC’s Most Valuable Striker and made the All Star Team.
He scored 12 points (7 + 5) and was fourth in the scoring league, behind the Russians Vadim Shipatyov, Artemy Panarin and Evgenyj Dadonov.
No Swede had ever made such a breakthrough in the World Cup tournament as an 18-year-old.
Not even Peter Forsberg, who was 18 when he played his first role in The Toilet in Prague in 1992 and turned 19 later that summer.
Leo Karlsson is half a year younger, now that he’s had his first chance at Tre Kronor.
Trust his intuition
But historically, the leaders of the Swedish national team have been more keen than others to give young players the opportunity in leadership roles.
Mats Sundin made his debut as a nineteen-year-old at the World Cup in Bern in 1990, but then the captain of the national team Tommy Sandlin was sitting on the bench.
By then, Sudden had already gone as the historic first pick in the previous summer’s NHL draft and as the first ever European.
In the same tournament, Czechoslovakia had a full junior series with Jaromir Jäger, Bobby Hollick and Robert Reichel.
And everyone knows what happened to them.
But the Swedish national team captains have historically relied more on age and routine.
Even Connie Evenson received a lot of criticism when he gave 20-year-old Niklas Lidström his WC debut in 1991 and a much younger Foppa in 1992.
But when he and the team went home with a gold medal both times, the pundits fell silent.
Connie trusted her instincts.
I’d be glad if Sam Hallam felt the same tickle when it came to Leo Carlsson. At least he was on the ice when the Swedes had moved up from six to five at the finish.
This is a good sign.
Now the competition is already tougher for those who are in the team that played this international match against Finland.
Four Swedish forwards – Jacob Silverberg (Anaheim), Lucas Raymond (Detroit), Jonathan Berggren (Detroit) and Alexander Nylander (Pittsburgh) – have already left the NHL.
They are guaranteed a place in the World Cup squad, as the current NHL agreement means that all players called home must be registered for the tournament.
Same match then?
Yes, disapproval just like it often happens in these types of practice matches.
Sweden took the lead in the first half when Dennis Rasmussen threw himself forward and rebounded in front of the goal.
It doesn’t get much more fun than that.
Finland turned things around in the second half when Mikael Granlund easily made it 1-1 into an empty box, when he was given a free chance after a careless Swedish pass into his own area.
Oskarhamns-Oksanen then made it 2-1 very nicely with two minutes left in the first half.
Then there were no more goals and Finland won 2-1.
Not surprising.
Jukka Jalonen’s lions are strong defensively and don’t offer many inches.
Not even in this type of match.
