NY Islanders‘ recent top draft pick, Calle Odeliuswill be a member of Team Sweden in the 2023 World Junior Championships held in Moncton and Halifax.

The Isles selected Odelius in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, where he landed in the lap of Lou Lamoriello. Odelius was available at the 65th pick when many projected him to go in the first or early second round.

The Nykvarn, Sweden native will be one of eight defensemen on the Swedish roster, three of whom have also been drafted. Although only 18 years old, Odelius is one of the most experienced defensemen on the Swedish team and should be expected to play a significant role on the team’s blue line. We could see Odelius being paired with one of the top defensemen in the 2023 draft, Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Odelius has achieved success at international junior level as a member of the U-18 World Cup 2022 in Germany, where Sweden took the gold medal. Odelius appeared in all six games for Sweden and had three assists – including one in the upset of Team USA in the gold medal game.

In that gold medal game, up against a USA roster full of top draft picks that Logan Cooley, Cutter Gauthierand Frank Nazar, the Swedes were outplayed and outscored 51-15. Sweden somehow managed to take advantage of their opportunities and take down the stars and stripes 6-4

Sweden enters the tournament as the second-ranked team in Group A, with Canada at the top, followed by the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. The Swedes open play on Boxing Day when they take on Austria and Detroit Red Wings‘ highly ranked prospect, Marco Kasper.

Odelius plays in the HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden and currently has four assists in 24 games for Djurgården. Playing against his age level, we should expect more production from Odeluis this tournament than his season so far suggests.