Flyers defensive prospect Fredric Larsson has left Sweden and will play this fall for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. He made the announcement himself this afternoon on his Twitter account.
Moving to USA tomorrow, exicted to play for @YtownPhantoms this year!
— Fredric Larsson (@BagarN12) August 21, 2013
Larsson was drafted in the 4th round with the 111th overall selection in the 2012 Draft. He played for Brynas in Sweden’s top junior league a year ago, and now will make the jump to the smaller ice in North America. That should suit him well as a big-bodied, hard-hitting defenseman.
We’ve never seen Larsson play, but Bill Meltzer has and briefly wrote about him last month:
I asked Flyers director of hockey operations Chris Pryor if he thinks the 6-foot-4 Larsson has a chance to someday make a positional switch from defense to power forward, because he plays a banging style that is arguably better suited to the small-rink game in North America and has shown hints that he could be an effective player down low in the offensive zone.
Pryor would prefer not to see Larsson stay at his more accustomed spot.
“We believe Fredric will continue to develop as a defenseman and hopefully playing this season in the USHL — small ice and North American game — will enhance his progress,” he said.
Larsson turned 20 in July and hopefully he keeps developing into a capable pro player now that he’s here in North America. We’ve updated our organizational depth chart to reflect Larsson’s jump to the USHL.
