Leo Carlsson is most people’s third, fourth, or fifth favorite draft prospect this year — depending on who you ask — and recently he was playing great. With Matvei Michkov moving down to a developmental league to get in some ice time, it will be interesting to see how his games at the end of the regular season compare with Carlsson’s, which ended on Wednesday.
Carlsson scored two goals and added two assists since his last update on Feb. 24, raising his season total to 25 points (10 G, 15 A) in 44 games.
What a play by Leo Carlsson to set up the OT winner for Orebro. Two more assists today for Carlsson #2023NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/LkrHEjsWdy
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) March 2, 2023
Leo Carlsson (2023) with 2 primary assists today.
He has 4 goals and 6 points in his last 6 games and 24 in 41 SHL games on the season – tops among U20 skaters
— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) March 2, 2023
Prospect Leo Carlsson continues his impressive season in the Swedish Hockey League. Keep in mind, this is a not a very high scoring league and generally very difficult for teenagers. Carlsson looks like he will be the 3rd overall pick in this years NHL entry draft. #Blackhawks https://t.co/dVJNjJdaWV
— Colby Cohen (@ColbyCohen36) March 2, 2023
This tweet was a bit premature but, because Carlsson’s point total did not change in those final two games, it still remains accurate.
Most points by a draft-eligible skater in SHL history:
• Daniel Sedin 42
• Henrik Sedin 34
• Elias Lindholm 30
• Nicklas Backstrom 26
• Leo Carlsson 25**Two games remaining on the schedule
— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) March 4, 2023
Carlsson was just placed fourth overall in the draft rankings by the Athletic (behind Bedard, Fanilli, and Michkov). They projected him to be an NHL All-Star with high-end puck skills, comparable to Mikko Rantanen, but they critiqued his separation speed.
New post @TheAthleticNHL: An updated 2023 NHL Draft board, with the first appearance of player comps for this year’s class https://t.co/dpcuW5LsOa
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) March 7, 2023
Here’s another recent example of his play:
Carlsson did run into a bit of a disciplinary issue and was a healthy scratch on Feb. 28 against the Växjö Lakers, which was the best team in the league.
Leo Carlsson was scratched tonight. Slept in for a team meeting. That won’t go over well with the multitude of NA scouts who flew over this week to look at these guys. A long trip for nothing.
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) February 28, 2023
Örebro’s Leo Carlsson found himself off the team last game against Växjö. The reason is that he overslept for practice this week. Coach Niklas Eriksson says he “struggles being on time”. https://t.co/P8ZhVvrhGH
— Leo Carlsson News (@LeoCarlssonNews) February 28, 2023
Although he is just a kid at 18 years old — and mistakes happen — it’s definitely not a good practice to have just ahead of your draft-eligible season, with scouts swarming your games and a final push for points needing to be made.
All’s well that ends well, though:
Well – Leo Carlsson isn’t sitting out today’s game. Picks up an assist on his first shift.
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) March 2, 2023
The Örebro Bears ended their season in fourth place with a record of 28-18-6 in 52 games played. Overall, Carlsson had an impressive record with the team, especially considering his age. Örebro now has a week off before it’ll resume play in the SHL playoffs with a best-of-seven series against Timra.