Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Who Raised Their Stock In Training Camp
Mattias Norlinder
Mattias Norlinder has seen his stock in the Canadiens organization yo-yo up and down like a Twitter stock.
He was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft but was not a well known prospect as he had been playing Junior hockey in Sweden for the most part. The next season, he made Modo’s top team and played a full year of professional hockey right after being drafted.
He put up 18 points in 34 games that season and also made their World Junior team, where he showed off tremendous skating that made him look like a prototypical offensive defenseman in today’s game.
The 2020-21 season saw him head to Frolunda to play in SHL, Sweden’s best league and he scored ten points in 37 games. He had his ups and downs that season but it was the toughest competition he faced and he closed it out with five points in seven playoff games so he headed into the 2021-22 season looking good.
Then he played six games at the NHL level, six more at the AHL level, kind of hing around Montreal for a while as a healthy scratch, didn’t really play much in the first half of the season and then headed back to Sweden a few months into the year. He would play 21 SHL games with Frolunda that season and had just two points.
It was a down year that really deflated his value. Last season was a full year with the Rocket and he had 19 points in 67 games. He can still skate like the wind, but didn’t really pile up points like an offensive defenseman should in the AHL.
He entered this year’s training camp almost a forgotten young defenseman, but with just a few days to go before the regular season begins, he is still on the NHL roster. He has been exceptional so far in training camp and will have a chance to earn a role on the Canadiens with a strong game on Saturday night.
Just when it seemed the Canadiens were ready to write him off, he has burst back onto the Habs prospect scene and looks ready to play in the National Hockey League.
dark. Next. Habs Have Several Potential 20 Goal Scorers
Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!