Sends Mattias Norlinder to Sweden the right call
Montreal Canadiens prospect Mattias Norlinder was probably supposed to go back to Sweden all the time. It was only expected to happen two months ago.
Norlinder chose in the third round of the Canadiens 2019 and has played the last two seasons as a professional in Sweden. He suited Frolunda, traditionally a strong team in the Swedish top league.
He arrived at Hab’s training camp this season after signing his starting contract, but it was really a long shot for him to join the NHL team
Although Shea Weber was absent from the year, David Savard signed a four-year contract to join a defense led by Jeff Petry, Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson. Alexander Romanov, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman were already here for in-depth purposes as well, so there really was no place for Norlinder and that was good.
At the age of 21, Norlinder is still a prospect. There is no rush to get him to NHL level, but an odd chain of events led to him still being in North America halfway through December when he was expected to be back in Sweden in mid-October.
First, Norlinder was injured at training camp and missed about four weeks. When he returned healthy, he was eligible to be sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for a one-week fitness period. The Canadiens recalled him on November 11 and were battling several of their own injuries at the time.
Joel Edmundson has not played a game yet and Savard is the only defender to fit for every game so far this season. So, the Habs had a place on their playlist for Norlinder and decided to give him a few games.
He was to play six NHL games and then, on December 1, because he was still on the NHL list, he was eligible to be relegated to the AHL. Before that, Norlinder could have used an out-clause in his contract to go back to Sweden instead of going to Laval.
Although it would have been nice to keep him in North America, the Canadiens announced yesterday that Norlinder will return to Frolunda and end the season there.
It makes a lot of sense to let him return to Sweden. First, it was where he wanted to be instead of Laval. Although there are some benefits to having a young, steady skater, offensive defender who plays hockey in North America, it does not make sense to force him to do so if he does not want to join the AHL.
Norlinder would have stayed in the AHL for much of the season as well. Although the Canadiens are likely to replace Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman this season, the deadline for trade is not until March 21 this season. There are just over three months left, which is a long time to have a player in Laval who wants to be in Montreal or Frolunda.
Even when the aforementioned veterans are replaced, the Canadiens will still have Petry, Edmundson, Savard Romanov, Sami Niku and Kale Clague on the list. Letting Norlinder be developed in Sweden for another season gives a longer look at Niku and Clague, who are both limited free agents at the end of the season.
Norlinder is said to have a long NHL career in Montreal. The Canadiens desperately need a player who can skate and move the puck like him on the blue line. But there is no reason to hurry him there this season so the team made the right call and sent him to Frölunda for the rest of this year.
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