Some exciting news for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and for the Flyers’ prospect group today as a whole, as Swedish forward Oskar Lindblom has signed an amateur try-out contract with the Phantoms for the remainder of this season.
Lindblom, a forward who was seen by some as a potential second-round pick in the 2014 draft before falling off due to a rough draft year, was grabbed by the Flyers in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia. He has spent most of the last two years playing for Brynas in the Swedish Elite League’s highest level.
He seemed to slow down a bit as this season went on, but overall his eight goals and 17 assists in 48 games are pretty impressive in a respected European league for a guy who doesn’t turn 20 until this August. He also has competed for Team Sweden in World Juniors in each of the last two seasons and has done very well in those tournaments.
He’s certainly become one of the more interesting forward prospects in the Flyers’ pipeline. We had him ranked at No. 13 in our mid-season Top 25 Under 25 update, and ESPN.com’s Corey Pronman has been a big supporter of him this year, putting him in his Top 100 drafted prospects in the preseason (46th overall) and again in midseason (37th).
The Flyers themselves have also had a lot of nice things to say about Lindblom. Here’s scouting director Chris Pryor, speaking to ESPN’s Craig Custance about him back in January:
“If you look at what he’s done in the last couple years, he’s on the upward track. He’s playing with the big team. We’re really happy with where he’s progressed,” said Flyers scouting director Chris Pryor. “He’s a lot bigger and stronger, and his skating has gotten better. The thing about Oskar is he always knew how to play the game. The kid has a great work ethic, head on his shoulders and you’re starting to see the fruit of his labors paying off.”
Lindblom’s contract, for now, is just for the remainder of this season, meaning it only covers the nine games remaining on the Phantoms’ schedule. So that’s a nice boost to their forward group in the season’s final three weeks. According to Phantoms radio play-by-play man Bob Rotruck, Lindblom’s already made it across the pond and over to Allentown. In theory, he could play for the Phantoms as soon as their game tonight against the Hartford Wolf Pack, though we don’t know yet if he’ll actually be doing that.
Transaction: Oskar Lindblom join Phantoms. He’s here in Allentown now. 19 years old. Rd 5 selection of Flyers in 2014.
— Bob Rotruck (@BobRotruck) March 26, 2016
It’s worth noting that this is not an entry-level contract with the Flyers as of yet; however, with Lindblom making the trip from Sweden to North America, it would certainly indicate that one of those is likely coming before too long.
Here’s Lindblom’s career résumé:
