Montreal Canadiens: Mattias Norlinder Has Strong SHL Postseason

Montreal Canadiens prospect Mattias Norlinder has kind of been the forgotten prospect in the Habs system.

Maybe forgotten is too strong of a word to use, but he can be overlooked at times. The Canadiens have a lot of good prospects at the moment, and Norlinder is one of the few playing overseas.

There are a few reasons that Norlinder might not be getting the credit he deserves.

First of all, his draft selection was the product of a huge trade by the Canadiens. Max Pacioretty was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights and the haul coming back included Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a draft pick that turned into Norlinder. Playing second (or third) fiddle in a big trade takes some of the shine off a prospect.

Also, Norlinder was drafted in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Habs with their third round pick. Well, Cole Caufield was taken in the first round of that draft and he steals most of the prospect headlines.

Also, with Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble playing well in college hockey, Kaiden Guhle getting a little taste of AHL action and having a strong showing at the World Juniors, and Cale Fleury, Josh Brook and Otto Leskinen playing solid hockey for the Laval Rocket, you might not think of the kid playing in Sweden as often as you should.

However, Norlinder just wrapped up a strong season playing in Sweden’s top league, the SHL, with an historic franchise in Frolunda.

Norlinder didn’t exactly pile up the points, scoring ten in 37 regular season games, but the SHL isn’t a league that is very high scoring. Norlinder’s teammate, Lucas Raymond was the fourth overall pick in the NHL Draft this past season, and he had just 18 points in 34 games for Frolunda.

Former Habs farmhand Max Friberg led the team in scoring with 29 points in 52 games.

Norlinder did stand out in the postseason. Frolunda played in a play-in series as the 7th seed hosting the 10th seed in a Best of 3 series. They won that in three games before being quickly swept aside in four games by Rogle, the second seeded team in the regular season.

In seven postseason contests, Norlinder led Frolunda in scoring with three goals and five points. His three goals were more than any teammate and he was tied with Friberg in points with five.

That is not bad production for a defenceman who turned 21 just days before his team was eliminated from the postseason.

Norlinder will return to Frolunda next season as he is under contract for one more year. After that, we could very well see him jumping across the ocean to join the Laval Rocket for the 2022-23 season.

A terrific skater, who is adept at both ends of the ice, Norlinder could be playing on the Canadiens blue line before long and will stick there for a long time once he does arrive.