NASHVILLE (The Draft Analyst) — Isak Rosen and Filip Bysted each had two goals and an assist to lead Sweden to an 11-0 rout of Austria in the opening game of Group A at the 2023 under-20 world junior hockey championship on Monday.
Sweden (1-0-0) also received three-point efforts from center Fabian Wagner (2 goals, 1 assist) and defenseman Ludvig Jansson (3 assists), and goalie Carl Lindbom turned aside 13 shots for the shutout. The Swedes fired 51 shots for the game, including a 21-2 advantage in the opening period.
The Austrians were overmatched from the start and fell behind 1-0 when Rosen, a 2021 first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, stole the puck in the offensive zone for a 2-on-1 and beat Austrian goalie Thomas Pfarrmaier with a wrist shot with 5:55 left in the opening stanza.
Bysted, a San Jose Sharks’ first-rounder in 2022, upped Sweden’s lead to 2-0 less than five minutes later after he won an offensive-zone faceoff and buried a rebound off a Rosen shot. The Swedes finished the opening period with a 20-3 shot advantage.
Rosen kickstarted Sweden’s six-goal outburst in the second period by rifling a shot under the crossbar from the left circle just 48 seconds in. St. Louis Blues’ prospect Simon Robertsson scored via the wrister at 2:51 of the second and hulking draft-eligible center Milton Oscarson put the game out of reach with a short-handed tally at 7:16.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Liam Ohgren, Calle Odelius, and Oscar Pettersson also scored for the Swedes, which received multi-point efforts from eight players, including top 2023 draft prospect Leo Carlsson, who pitched in two assists.
2023 draft eligibles
LW Leo Carlsson (SWE) | 6’3, 198 | 12/26/04 | Orebro (SHL)
It was business as usual for the crafty forward as Carlsson — a natural center who is the youngest forward on Sweden’s roster — yet again delivered when given a top-line role. Not only did Carlsson spearhead the Swedish attack in the early going, but he reinforced his reputation as a self-starter and line driver by creating off the rush and setting up plays from the half-wall on the top power-play unit. Carlsson notched two assists in his WJC debut but he easily could have had more. In terms of ice time among Sweden’s forwards, only Filip Bysted (his usual linemate at the international level) and Liam Ohgren recorded more than Carlsson’s 15:51. He also pumped a game-high seven shots and showed soft hands and a quick catch-and-release when receiving tough passes.
RHD Axel Sandin-Pelikka (SWE) | 5’11, 176 | 3/11/05 | Skelleftea (SHL)
The Swedes have a history of including 17-year-old defensemen on their WJC roster, so Sandin-Pelikka’s addition shouldn’t have come as a surprise. His domination of the tougher J20 Norra circuit followed by instant success in the adult-age SHL should be enough to make him a first-round lock in a draft thin on blueliners. Sandin-Pelikka’s league play is important to remember because he’s a dipsy-doodling type whose excitability may be construed as hot-doggish or unnecessarily flashy, which in turn may attract criticism during a high-profile event like the WJC. A bigger test will come in the later stages when the Swedes play the physical Czechs and tough Canadians. But Sandin-Pelikka led all Swedes with 18:30 of ice time against the pushover Austrians while showcasing his plus-plus footwork and escapability, as well as a hard, accurate shot. There’s little to worry about on the defensive side because his stickwork is excellent and he wins most of his races. Stylistically, it would be fair to compare 2022-23 Sandin-Pelikka to 2017-18 Adam Boqvist, with Sandin-Pelikka having an edge in point-producing upside and durability.
C Milton Oscarson (SWE) | 6’6, 218 | 2/18/03 | Orebro (SHL)
A menacing double-overage center with two-way ability, Oscarson’s beginning to make a name for himself as one of the most feared junior-age hitters in Sweden. He’s also a top faceoff man (65 percent at the J20 level) and sound penalty killer, which is exactly what we saw against the overmatched Austrians on Monday. Although he was the nominal fourth-line center behind Filip Bysted, Liam Ohgren, and Fabian Wagner, Oscarson still received 14:34 of ice time, scored a short-handed goal, and won 72 percent of his draws (8-for-13). Oscarson is more of a setup man than a finisher, but he has soft hands and moves well for his size, which is evident when he hunts down puck carriers for massive open-ice wallops. His SHL production is paltry (2 assists in 52 career games) but he plays a rugged game with a nice blend of smarts and intimidation.
RHD David Reinbacher (AUT) | 6’2, 187 | 10/25/04 | Kloten (NLA)
Reinbacher’s stock has risen for several months, mostly because of the maturity and poise he’s shown as an 18-year-old defenseman in Switzerland’s elite league. Although his national junior team is an absolute dumpster fire, Reinbacher’s effort level, strength in battles, and pass accuracy represented the few positives one could extract from a team that looked grossly overmatched immediately after puck drop. Remember, the Austrians are a squad who have been outscored but an average score of 7-0 since joining the top U20 division in 2021, and not much has changed in this year’s tournament. The constant pressure being applied by opponents limits Reinbacher’s ability to showcase his offensive flair and heavy shot with little backswing.
NHL Prospects
Sweden
RW Isak Rosen (BUF 1st/2021)
Rosen was a scrawny kid who put up big-time numbers in Sweden’s J20 but looked somewhat overmatched in the SHL before the Sabres drafted him 14th overall in 2021. After dealing with injuries in 2021-22, Rosen crossed the pond with added muscle in preparation for his rookie AHL season in Rochester. To date, the speedy sniper has not disappointed in either international or league play, and his near-flawless performance in the opener against lowly Austria (2 goals, 1 assist, 5 shots in 15:41 of ice time) upped his career WJC totals to 6 goals and 2 assists in 8 games. He was explosive, shifty, confident, and deadly accurate with both his passes and shot attempts while playing on Sweden’s top power-play unit with Leo Carlsson and Filip Bystedt. Goalies by this point know Rosen has a plus-plus one-timer and wrister, but there’s little they can do by themselves to stop it.
C Filip Bystedt (SJS 1st/2022)
The number of critics who questioned San Jose for taking Bystedt in the first round of the 2022 draft continues to shrink, as he’s put up impressive numbers as a 18-year-old center in SHL play for Linkoping (11 points and 43 shots in 26 games) and continues to achieve results for Sweden in best-on-best competitions. A fast and fluid upright skater with a powerful stride, Bystedt can impact play in all three zones and is one of the better penalty killers among his age group. On Monday, the 6-foot-4, 198-pound pivot executed multiple precision plays while in flight and also during close-quarter cycles in the offensive zone. His positioning on the first power-play unit alternated from half-wall to net-front, but Bystedt’s two goals game from near the goal — one being a rebound and the other off a deflection. He also added an assist and went 9-for-14 (64 percent) on draws.
RW Fabian Lysell (BOS 1st/2021)
Lysell is one of the few players in this tournament who looks good no matter what he does with the puck. Possessing blazing speed is part of it, but even at maximum acceleration, the 2021 Bruins’ first-rounder controls the puck with complete confidence and appears to have made up his mind well before execution. Sometimes this can make him easier to telegraph, which may explain why he’s never dented the goal-scoring charts as often as one would think. But Lysell remains a rare talent who can turn any giveaway into a regrettable and costly experience for the opposition. Like Rosen, Lysell came to North America to adjust to the smaller rink and physicality, and his immediate success with the AHL’s Providence Bruins could place him on Boston’s short list of NHL-ready call-ups. He didn’t register a point in 16:04 of ice time, but
C Liam Ohgren (MIN 1st/2022)
After playing wing in each of his last two seasons in league play, Ohgren has been used as a center for most of his under-20 games, which moved usual pivot Noah Ostlund to the wing. This development is somewhat surprising because Ohgren is blessed with (among other things) an elite shot and release, but the truth is he looked quite comfortable playing center and distributing the puck. Although his snipe that tickled the twine against the Austrians was a thing of beauty, Ohgren was credited with only two shots despite leading all forwards with 18:06 of ice time. Still, the 2022 first-rounder looked both quick and graceful at top speed, distributed pucks with the right touch and accuracy, and actually won 67 percent of his faceoffs (10-for-15).
LHD Calle Odelius (NYI 2nd/2022)
Odelius continues to tease onlookers with game-breaking moments that explain why so many of us were convinced a season ago that he was a lock for the first round at the 2022 draft. He still walks the tightrope when controlling the puck up high, but Odelius in both league and international play continues to have a high completion percentage with his on-the-puck decisions. In Monday’s opener, the Islanders’ prospect did a great job covering up in the defensive end for flash-and-dash partner Axel Sandin-Pelikka and even added offense of his own. Odelius scored with a long-distance wrister through a screen after he grabbed the puck off a change and used his edges and balance to get into the middle of the ice. His overall usage was below what may have been expected of him (only 14:55 of ice time) and Sandin-Pelikka played nearly four more minutes despite being over a year younger.
RW Jonathan Lekkerimaki (VAN 1st/2022)
Lekkerimaki has caught a lot of heat this season from stat-watching Canucks fans who don’t like the fact that he produced more in his draft year in the tougher SHL than as a draft+1 in the second-division Allsvenskan. But opponents always have a say in how a player develops, and the truth is that although Lekkerimaki has struggled in both hitting the net and finishing, he’s also suffered bad puck luck and easily could have four or five more goals if not for the post or bouncing pucks. In Halifax, Lekkerimaki is lining up with Fabian Wagner as his center and Victor Stjernborg on the opposite wing rather than flanking Djugardens’ teammates Noah Ostlund and Liam Ohgren, and on-ice chemistry in cycles and on the rush was evident. What really stood out with Lekkerimaki during the romp over Austria, however, were subtle plays under pressure that bought him time and space — the first being a little delay that allowed him to step into a wrister that found the back of the net; the second, a smart defensive-zone read up high that resulted in a takeaway and feed to a streaking Wagner for a primary assist.