Forward, defenseman were part of silver medal side that fell on home soil to USA last year; numbers don't tell how Swedes are playing in top pro league at home
Tim Taylor has one simple message for St. Louis Blues fans who Google Otto Stenberg and Theo Lindstein and just look at the numbers.
"If there are people that don't watch the league, it's a really tough league," Taylor said.
Taylor, the Blues' assistant general manager, can understand just looking at numbers. They're not eye-popping by any stretch.
Stenberg, the 25th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has just six points (three goals, three assists) in 25 games on loan for Malmo of the Swedish Hockey League, projected to finish with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 51 games; and Lindstein, on loan at Brynas IF of the SHL, has two goals and two assists in 23 games, projected to finish with eight points (four goals, four assists) in 49 games.
"It's a hard league to get points in," Taylor said. "It's well-coached, well-structured and there's a lot of good players, a lot of older players, veteran players that have played in the league. It's very comparable to Finland. Finland's a little more hard-nosed, but Sweden has a lot of good players in it.
"It's tough for 19-, 20-year-olds to play in this league. Sometimes players get lost over there because of that. They have to jump back up from junior to this league just because it is so hard. It's hard for these young players. It's very comparable to the AHL. We bring over, [Dalibor] Dvorsky's 19 years old playing in this league. Another guy, [Nate] Danielson, Detroit Red Wings pick, same year as Dvorsky, ninth overall, he's playing in the AHL and these are tough leagues. They're tough for these young players to play in and to adapt to. We feel very comfortable that Theo and Otto have had very productive first halves in Sweden. Points are not everything for development within players. They've got to learn to play the game the right way before they come over here and get onto bigger ice and acclimate to the North American game. We're happy with their production over in Sweden so far. It's very well-coached and they're learning the details of the game. We're hoping that after next year when they do come over that they're more prepared for North American hockey and a better step in development towards making the Blues as a full time player."
But in the meantime, each 19-year-old has taken a hiatus from the tough SHL competition to represent Sweden one final time at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which gets underway on Thursday in Ottawa, with Stenberg and Lindstein two of an NHL high and Blues franchise record nine St. Louis prospects to represent the organization. Sweden, which fell 6-2 on home soil last year in the gold medal game against Jimmy Snuggerud and USA, will be one of the favorites and each of Stenberg and Lindstein will get one final crack at taking it a step further and winning gold.
Stenberg was one of the top point producers last year with nine points (five goals, four assists) in seven games, while Lindstein, who was a late replacement, led all defensemen in points with eight (two goals, six assists). And they continued their respective developments here in St. Louis this past summer.
Sweden opens pool play at 11 a.m. (CT) on Thursday against Dvorsky, Juraj Pekarcik and Slovakia on NHL Network in the US and on TSN in Canada.
