Nashville. Leo Carlson’s adventure in the National Hockey League started with a bang.
The 18-year-old Värmland native has already been picked second overall in the night’s party in Nashville, by the Anaheim Ducks – thus one of only six Swedes in history to hit it big in the draft.
– I was a little surprised, but I had a small idea that it could happen and I felt strongly about hearing my name so early, he told Sportbladet and at the same time announced that he had not decided whether or not to go to California after this fall.
Mats Sundin, Henrik Sedin, Victor Hedmann, Gabriel Landeskoog and Rasmus Dahlin.
Until last night, these stars were the only Swedes taken as a first or second pick in the NHL Draft.
But now the exclusive club has gained another member.
Because of a major upset, the Anaheim Ducks chose to take Leo Carlsson already at number two when the first round of the 2023 senior draft came out at Bridgestone Arena.
Better than expected
Up front, there were good hopes that “The New Mats Sundin” would be picked by the Columbus Blue Jackets – and if not, the main choices are the San Jose Sharks (4th) and Montreal Canadiens (5th).
But tonight in Nashville was even more magical than that.
When the Chicago Blackhawks awarded first choice Conor Bedard as planned, the Anaheim Chiefs took the stage and declared that they were proud to have been able to select Leo Carlsson from Örebro.
– It felt really powerful to hear your name so early. Very sick actually, Liu says, when half an hour later he’s sitting in a duck shirt on a podium in the press center.
However, young Carlson was not completely shocked.
– I was a little surprised but still no, because I had a good meeting with Anaheim yesterday and had a little notion that they might consider taking me. But you never know, I could have finished fifth too, so I felt pretty good.
Was it worth it when, due to canceled flights, you were allowed to drive 15 hours from Newark on a Tuesday night?
– Heh, yeah, it was totally worth it.
The Ducks are currently going through a rebuilding phase and won’t be competing for the playoff spots anytime soon, but they have a lot of young talent who will be superstars anyway.
– Yes, first of all there are Trevor Zygrass and Mason McTavish in the club. There are players with incredible skills that I look forward to playing with. I will learn a lot from them, Liu continues.
Greetings to Silverberg
Isac Lundeström and Jakob Silfverberg are also ducks – the latter was introduced to Leo during a water cycle last spring.
– Yes, Jacob is a really cool guy who gave me a lot of useful advice, he says.
– We didn’t talk particularly much about Anaheim, more about life in the NHL in general and I had time to learn a lot.
The only question now is whether they will actually play together next season.
Leo still has two years left on his contract with Örebro, but he could break the contract if he wants to move to North America – which is not out of the question.
– We have not yet decided on this issue, we will see how it turns out, and a decision will be made on it, the new Anaheim Duck explains.