Charlie Forslund spins beats and crushes checks, navigating Sweden’s elite SHL while building an electronic music career that keeps his mind sharp for Detroit’s future roster.
Back in 2024, the Detroit Red Wings used a late-round pick, 176th overall, to select Swedish winger Charlie Forslund, a towering 6-foot-4 forward who's produced solid numbers at the junior level throughout his career.
This season, the 20-year-old is looking to make the jump to the pro level in Sweden's top league, the SHL, after signing a two-plus-one-year deal with Brynäs IF this spring.
Forslund's path to Brynäs has moved quickly. After splitting last season between Mora IK's J20 program and Hockeyallsvenskan club Almtuna IS, he earned his shot at Sweden's top flight. The road won't be easy, however, as Brynäs also recently added 13-year NHL veteran Calle Jarnkrok, another former Red Wings draft pick, a move that could complicate Forslund's path to regular ice time.
While trying to earn his spot, Forslund sat down with Hockeynews, a Swedish outlet covering the country's top hockey news, for a feature that dug into his life away from the rink, and one detail in particular caught fans' attention.
Forslund produces electronic dance music in his free time, having already released roughly a dozen original tracks. He said in the interview he started off by remixing other artists' songs before quickly shifting to producing his own material. He's posted his music to different platforms for music and has even sampled some of his work on social media to tens of thousands of views.
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In other interviews, Forslund even expressed hope of one day DJing a live set in Gävle, having already done so back home in Falun, and has set his sights on taking over as the go-to DJ in the Brynäs locker room.
Sweden's hockey pipeline runs parallel to one of the most decorated music scenes in the world, with the country producing some of the biggest names in house and electronic music history, including Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz, Alesso and Galantis, among others. It wouldn't be a stretch to think Forslund has drawn some inspiration from that homegrown scene.
For now, hockey remains the priority as Forslund has spoken about training with Brynäs as the most demanding stretch of his career so far, but he's also made clear that having something else to focus on away from the rink, in this case, a mixing board, has helped keep him balanced.
If his game continues to develop and he eventually makes the jump to North America, it's easy to imagine him becoming a natural fit as his locker room's unofficial DJ wherever he lands.
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