Leo Carlsson | Welcome To The NHL | The First 10 Games

Full highlights of Leo Carlsson’s spectacular first 10 games in the NHL.

It’s a rare thing when a can’t-miss superstar is drafted into the NHL, but it’s a truly rare event when it happens that there are two. And in a heretofore unheard-of plot twist, this year there might even be three.

Now there’s some precedent for two. Lafleur & Dionne, Malkin & Ovechkin, McDavid & Eichel, and now Bedard & Carlsson will join their ranks; their careers destined to be inextricably linked.

While both players play on the elite side of elite, Leo Carlsson is a very different player than his Canadian rival. He’s a big man at 6’3” and can already hold his own physically against men twice his age. Already responsible in his own zone, he projects as a special player in all three zones. He’s a good skater and will only get faster. Endurance is his only weakness, but getting up to speed shouldn’t take long.

The Karlstad, Sweden native does everything right on the ice. He possesses elite smarts, brilliant hands, an NHL shot, and an instinctual ability to always find the best places on the ice. There are strong hints of Leon Draisaitl’s game in Carlsson. He just does everything—EVERYTHING—so very well.

Carlsson is a long way off from reaching his full potential, but he’s already a star in the league at just 18. If he’s not a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee when he finally unlaces his skates for the last time, something will have gone very badly wrong.