St. Louis Blues prospect Otto Stenberg had been playing this season in Sweden on loan to the Malmö Redhawks but, following a strong showing at the IIHF World Junior Championship, the Blues have requested for the loan agreement to be cancelled and the Redhawks have agreed. He will be assigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL.
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“Otto is coming off a strong World Junior Championship and we, of course, had hoped that he would come back to us with high energy and take further steps during the rest of the season,” Redhawks sports director Oscar Alsenfelt said in a club press release. “Now St. Louis and Otto have instead concluded that his development is best served by moving to North America now and we do not think it is in our interest to try to force players to stay with us. We wish him the best of luck in his continued career.”
Stenberg was the Blues’ first-round pick, 25th overall, in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to this season, he had played the previous four seasons for Frölunda HC, and had nine points in 54 SHL regular-season and playoff games with that club.
Last summer, Stenberg signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Blues and was then loaned to Malmö, where he had six points in 25 SHL games. His last game with the team was on Dec. 7 before the start of Sweden’s pre-tournament camp. At this year’s World Juniors, Stenberg had eight points in seven games, giving him 17 points in 14 games over the last two years.
In Springfield, Stenberg will become teammates with Dalibor Dvorský, who played for Slovakia in this year’s World Juniors.