Blues Continue to Add Swedish Talent Since Hiring Steen – The Hockey Writers –

The St. Louis Blues hired former player Alexander Steen to the hockey operations staff in June 2023. One storyline since that happened has been the deep dive into the pool of Swedish prospects. In the first round of the 2023 Draft, the club drafted two Swedish prospects (Otto Stenberg and Theo Lindstein) out of their three picks. Not to mention their other pick (10th overall) was used on Slovakian center Dalibor Dvorsky, who played in Sweden.

They’ve taken a larger interest in adding talent from Sweden and I think that’s a good thing. Before Steen’s arrival, the Blues hadn’t drafted a Swede in the first round since defenseman David Rundblad in 2009. Let’s look into the recent additions and the future in Sweden for the franchise.

Stenberg and Lindstein Look Like Quality Picks

In the 2023 Draft, the Blues took Stenberg with the 25th pick and Lindstein with the 29th pick. On May 1, the club signed Stenberg to a three-year entry-level deal. The center is 18 years old and played 31 games in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) last season. It’s not easy for a newly drafted teenager to play at the SHL level, so don’t be discouraged by him scoring just six points last season.

There is a lot of upside with Stenberg, especially as a center. The press release on him signing an entry-level deal summarizes the last few years well, “Overall, Stenberg has spent parts of the past three seasons in the SHL, totaling nine points (four goals, five assists) in 54 regular-season games. He has also medaled with Team Sweden three other times, including gold at the 2022 U-18 World Championship and silver at both the 2023 U-18 World Junior Championship and 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.” There are plenty of reasons to like Stenberg and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he got some NHL time in 2024-25.

Lindstein is a defenseman and signed his entry-level contract in March. He’s already 19 years old, so he’s slightly older than Stenberg. After spending time in the SHL in the last two seasons, Lindstein played 49 games in HockeyAllsvenskan this season, which is a level below. He tallied 15 points overall and made an impact in 13 playoff games. He played for Brynäs IF and helped lead them to a first-place finish.

There is a lot for Blues fans to be excited about as Stenberg and Lindstein creep closer toward making an impact at the NHL level in St. Louis.

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