On Tuesday, Team Sweden released its 23-man preliminary IIHF World Junior U20 roster for the upcoming makeup tournament that will be held again in Edmonton and Red Deer in August. Amongst the players named to the roster, Red Wings prospects Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach, and William Wallinder could be representing their home country in a couple of months.
The Red Wings’ top prospect, Simon Edvinsson, had an excellent season in the SHL playing for Frolunda, scoring two goals and 17 assists in 44 games. Edvinsson’s season would be recognized amongst the rest of the league as he was nominated for the SHL Rookie of the Year and won the EliteProspects Award for the best junior-aged player in the SHL.
In the two games before the 2022 World Junior Championship was canceled, Edvinsson was arguably Sweden’s best player, especially against Russia, where he even scored a breakaway goal.
Edvinsson will be relied on heavily in August in all situations, and the tournament will be a nice warmup before the Red Wings training camp.
Niederbach was also on the original roster for Team Sweden back in December and provided secondary solid scoring behind the likes of William Eklund and Alex Holtz. In the two games played, Niederbach scored twice, including a quick-release goal from the slot on Sweden’s powerplay.
In 51 regular-season games with Frolunda, Niederbach scored nine goals and added seven assists. Niederbach had an up and down regular season with Frolunda in terms of deployment, which eventually led to his decision to move SHL clubs to Rogle, where he’ll likely get more opportunities to play higher in the lineup.
Initially left off of Team Sweden’s WJC U20 roster back in November, Wallinder forced himself back into the conversation for the restart of the tournament after an excellent regular season.
In 47 games with Rogle this season, Wallinder scored four goals and 15 assists and was voted the SHL’s Top U20 player. Wallinder took a significant jump in his development In Rogle’s system under head coach Cam Abbott, especially in transition. With his size (6’4 190 lbs) and skating ability, Wallinder is a unique prospect and will likely be a regular for Sweden in August.
