There are reports that Mattias Norlinder, a blueline prospect for the Montreal Canadiens, is likely to remain in Europe for at least another year or two. That's according to Expressen Sports based in Sweden, Norlinder's home country. The report states he'll likely ink the contract before the start of the Wold Junior Championship, which gets underway on Boxing Day.
Expressen says Norlinder, 19, is likely to stay on with his current team, MoDo Hockey of the HockeyAllsvenskan, which is Sweden's second tier hockey league. According to Expressen, MoDo Hockey has the opportunity to make the jump back to the SHL, Sweden's top-tier league, in the spring. The team was relegated to HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2016-17 season after losing a qualifying series to Leksands IF four games to three. It's been there since. The team will take part in another qualifying series in 2020 to see if it can make it back. If they win, and Norlinder has signed an extension, he makes the jump along with the rest of the team.
Norlinder was selected in the third round, 64th overall, in the 2019 entry draft. This season he has six goals and 14 points in 28 games with MoDo. He will represent his home country at the World Junior Championship taking place in the Czech Republic over the Holidays. It has been reported he will serve as the seventh defenseman, meaning he likely won't play much unless someone gets injured or isn't performing up to expectations.
A scouting report of the 2019 entry draft, written by Cory Pronman of The Athletic, described Norlinder as a player who's "edge work is high-end. He has great mobility, but also has skill in his game. Norlinder often makes plays through defenders and has the vision to execute tough passes. His skill level isn't high-end, but he has so much pace to his game and his ability to play so fast speaks to his hockey sense. Defensively he's OK. He kills plays with his skating and showed he could defend fine versus men, but it's not his area of strength."
Source: Expressen.se
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