Photo Credit: The Flyers
Former Flyers’ General Manager Ron Hextall drafted Linus Högberg in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft. Thanks to Head Scout Chris Pryor, as well, Hextall really nailed the latter portions of the draft, where, most teams crumble and shoot for the stars. Hextall has littered the Flyers pipeline with bottom six players for the most part.
Yesterday, Linus Högberg recalled on emergency conditions, as Kevin Connauton was injured in Tuesday night’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“He’s not good,” Mike Yeo said when referring to Connauton’s injury following the game. Högberg will make his NHL Debut tonight and will don the #84. He will become the 9th player this season to make his NHL Debut for the Flyers.
Högberg really established himself as a quality puck moving defenseman during his last season in 2019-20, while playing for the Vaxjo Lakers in the SHL. He became much better in transition, and Högberg was able to exit the defensive zone cleanly, whether if it was by pushing the play up the ice, or looking for a quick pass to exit the defensive zone. For the season, he recorded five goals, and nine assists in 50 games played in arguably the third toughest league in the World.
Now these above offensive stats won’t blow people away, as he has been very inconsistent with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but Högberg still has the talent. He played in a Men’s league in the SHL, so the competition was much fiercer, than Junior hockey in the CHL. Högberg was once viewed as a quality puck moving defenseman, so he should have better stats (Seven assists thus far with the Phantoms this season in 57 games played). For some reason his development has stalled, but this maybe due to the new coaching staff that has been implemented in Lehigh.
He’s a competitor, one that can skate well, sees the ice well, and will pinch at the right time. Most of all, Högberg plays a mistake free game. Högberg plays the left side of the defense, so this will be an interesting night to see how he performs.
This young prospect in Högberg really showed his range by playing in any situation the coaching staff asks of him, and he did well with puck protection. His skating appeared to be smoother than in prior years, so now it’s time for him to hone in on his craft.
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