Leo Carlsson felt ’starstruck’ meeting Yzerman during Detroit interview. When asked if he ever felt that way on the ice, answered: facing Mikko Rantanen and facing Moritz Seider.

3 Comments

1. SpiritBamba 1 year ago

   Trade up incoming

2. zze0001 1 year ago

   Translated article

   ÖREBRIDGE. Leo Carlsson has a lot to think about for the upcoming season.
   Will there be games in the SHL or in the NHL?
   Which club and coach will he play for?
   Will he play as a center or a forward?
   Before he has received the answers, the 18-year-old giant talent has at least had time to consult a number of NHL-qualified peers and answer the NHL team’s questions himself.
   – I met Steve Yzerman at Detroit’s meeting, it was special, he says before the draft.

   He has already done one weekend in the USA, soon it will be time for another.
   Then Leo Carlsson will finally be selected in the NHL draft.
   What was it like to see a Stanley Cup Final in place?
   – I was at the combine and a few others were at Vegas against Florida. It was a powerful experience, he says.
   Together with the other talents Conor Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Will Smith, Leo Carlsson got to see William Karlsson together with the Vegas Golden Knights win one of the final games at home.
   – He was really good, William. He does everything right. Then Jack Eichel was one that stood out, he has such speed and a good shot. It was powerful. They won the Stanley Cup after all.
   The dream is to do the same thing one day?
   – It’s done! Then you’ll see if you make a speech… but that would have been really cool. That’s the dream.
   During the days in Vegas, Carlsson and many of the other pledges sat in a lot of interviews, as it usually looks. Then it is with the media as well as with the various clubs.
   – I just did a few interviews. But I didn’t get a difficult question right away. But it was a press conference where I had to answer a few questions, so it was a bit new.

   You didn’t get any great questions?
   – No… they were quite “ordinary” questions like what animal you are. No really weird questions then. It was more about how I feel on the ice, look at myself and how I live. More like that.
   Leo Carlsson’s meetings with the NHL clubs: “You’ll have to see…”
   A question and answer has received more attention in the United States. Carlsson had to explain what he “knew about Columbus” and the Blue Jackets club, which many people are tipped to choose him.
   – Then I replied that “I know where it is on the map”. I still know more, like which players they have and which coach is coming in and so on. I know quite a bit.
   How about being picked by them and maybe getting Mike Babcock as their coach?
   – We’ll have to see how it turns out, he says with a smile.
   But it wasn’t the first time he talked to representatives from different NHL clubs.
   During the last season, he has been seen on several occasions talking to a number of different suit-clad gentlemen in the corridors of Behrn Arena after the games.
   What kind of people did you talk to then?
   – A bit of a scout, but I often talk to the family after the matches too. Then there are those who came here to check on me. Then there will be some talk about the match. It rarely gets long drawn out.

   Is it just scouts?
   – In any case, it could be a GM, or assistant GM, and maybe two or three more people from a club. Then some lone scout. But usually some General Managers have been here and checked, I know, then maybe I just met an assistant GM or scout instead. You rarely meet GMs here, he says.
   But you have met the clubs’ General Managers?
   – I met some GMs over there at the combine interviews…
   Revealing the feeling during the meeting – with Steve Yzerman: “Special”
   One of them stood out.
   – I met Steve Yzerman at the Detroit meeting, it was cool. He is an old great player, so it was special and you were almost starstruck.
   Have you ever felt that way on the ice?
   – Mikko Rantanen was cool to meet during the WC anyway. It was noticed that he was a star. Meeting Moritz Seider was also cool. It was probably those of them who are NHL stars.
   Speaking of people with roles in the NHL, it is possible to imagine in advance that Josef Boumedienne might have talked a little more with Carlsson.
   Tre Kronor’s assistant general manager who also worked as a scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the club that Carlsson is said to be highly interested in when they choose as the third club in the draft.

   Did you talk to him when you were with the national team?
   – During the WC I did it. But there wasn’t much talk about Columbus back then, though…
   He didn’t try to sell the club?
   – No, it’s probably more me who has to sell myself there in that case. But there was more WC talk with him then.
   When you say that: you weren’t trying to emphasize yourself at the same time?
   – No, no… it really didn’t look good either.
   Well during the tournament, Carlsson also got to share a dressing room with a number of seasoned hockey players, not least some who have played countless NHL seasons. The one who played in the NHL the longest of them was team captain Jakob Silfverberg.
   – It’s not just about hockey and such. It’s also about what it means to be a professional as well. I spoke to Lucas Raymond more about what it’s like off the ice. Then I talked a lot with Jesper Wallstedt.
   Trained with NHL star Jesper Bratt: “No bad money”
   What do you ask them?
   – How they got into the team, it’s not just Swedes there. Little how to live, hangs ma n with those of the same age and so… stuff that is fun to know.

   Another person he has spoken to is Jesper Bratt. The forward belonging to the New Jersey Devils who recently signed a monster contract in the NHL and with whom Carlsson recently trained in Solna in northern Stockholm.
   – He congratulated me on a good season. I congratulated him on a good season and a big contract. Eight years is nice to get, it’s not bad money either, says the 18-year-old.
   At home in Örebro, Mathias Bromé has also taken him under his wing this past season.
   – He has been over and tested, so it was good to hear about some experiences. He has been a great leader to have on the team this year.

   But wherever he plays in the future, in the SHL or the NHL, there is a crucial question to be solved: which position Carlsson should play.
   At the WC, for example, he played as a center, which he did not do in the SHL or at the JVM.
   – It is still a “requirement”. Or almost… maybe I don’t “require” it like that. But I want to drive it. It went well during the WC even though I didn’t play there during the season. It was a bit sad that I didn’t get to do it then, but I understand why, he says and continues:
   – Next year I want to play center completely. That’s where I think it’s best. It is important to be able to play center anyway.

   After all, there were those who reacted to the fact that, for example, you didn’t play as a center during the Junior World Cup…
   – I feel most comfortable as a center, getting the puck up to speed there. Maybe I would have been even better if I had been allowed to play as a center in the SHL or on the JVM? But you don’t know that.
   He also had to answer that exact question during the interviews with the NHL teams.
   – It was more about what you yourself feel, whether you feel you are a forward or a center. That question asked every team.
   There was still a question to sort out?
   – Of course it will be like that when I played forward all year except at the WC. Then it’s about what I’m comfortable with and where I see myself in the NHL going forward.
   How do you feel about playing on a small rink?
   – I still have a bit of offense and defense. After all, I am a bigger center who can score goals and points. I should be able to make my teammates better. So I think I would fit in well on a small rink when you have to think faster. Maybe I have some of these extra “skills” to be able to play on a small rink.
   The answer about “new Örebro” with Niklas Eriksson and Johan Hedberg
   If he stays in Örebro, it will be with a new coach. This since Niklas Eriksson became sports manager.

   – Niklas has been good. He’s calm and stuff. You get very good tips, there is a lot you can take with you.
   Now it is instead Johan Hedberg who leads Örebro in the SHL. He has opened up to playing Carlsson as a center with great clarity and a lot of people have spoken in advance for the teenager to stay in Sweden for a year as well.
   – We have talked a lot. It’s more about next year, what’s going on, what his and my plans are like that. I may not have noticed what he “is” like as a coach.
   But before that, a long summer of training awaits.
   What do you want to improve on for the coming season?
   – I want to be faster in the first cuts as well. I’m pretty fast, but that’s the first thing.
   Regardless, an NHL draft awaits to begin with.
   It is also so much so that it has been discussed that some teams were prepared to trade players or draft picks that they hold in order to choose earlier. All to get the opportunity to choose Leo Carlsson earlier.
   But it remains to be seen whether that will be the case.
   – It’s clear that it’s cool. There was talk of Calgary a while ago. It’s fun that they want me. It would be cool if you get to see some trejd while you’re there too. But it’s not far now…

3. geedlewis 1 year ago

   Confirmed to the wings /s