Linus Zetterstrom Junior Review

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Linus Zetterstrom Junior Review

 

The Las Vegas Aces nabbed Zetterstrom 39th overall, in the 4th round. When you watch Zetterstrom, and all of his past teammates and coaches can attest to this, you notice a couple of main points. One of the smoothest skaters in the draft, he uses that skating as well as his elite puckhandling skills to make a difference in all three zones, where he can either beat you with a quick deke or feather a pass right between your legs. The future power play quarterback for the Aces is not one to shy away from physical play and is not afraid to stand up for his teammates, even being referred to as a ‘pest’ by opposing coaches for his relentless boxing out in front of his net. His stellar defensively play also has opposing forwards hardly beating him on a 1v1, or even a 2v1. 

 

Linus Zetterstrom was always drawn to hockey. Growing up in the heart of Malmö, Zetterstrom routinely went to the local Malmö Redhawks SHL games with his older brothers Henrik and Jesper. He has followed his idol, Mattias Ekholm, since he was old enough to skate. He routinely stays up really late/wakes up really early to catch Ekholm playing with the Nashville Predators, his favourite team. Linus joined the Redhawks U8 program when he was only six years old, and has continued to dominate his age group. After playing with Malmö’s U18 team for the most of the year, with the odd call up to the Redhawks’ men’s team, Zetterstrom showed he can play with the big boys, putting up 23 points(8 goals, 15 assists) in 31 games with the U18 team, and 2 points(2 assists) in 9 games with the Redhawks SHL team. Zetterstrom and his family decided that coming to North America for the VHLM was the best option for the development, and quickly caught the eye of multiple teams. 

 

Zetterstrom has some experience in international play with the Tre Kronor as well. For the last two years, he has led team Sweden to bronze and silver respectively at the Ivan Hlinka U18 tournament, while being the captain of the silver team. He also played as an 17 year old in the World Junior Championships last winter, putting up 6 points(1 goal, 5 assists) in 10 games and helping Sweden capture the bronze medal after losing to the USA in the semis and defeating the Russians in the bronze medal game. He played especially well in the Russia game, scoring two assists and nabbing the first star of the game in the process while routinely being on the 2nd power play unit during the the tournament. 

 

Watch out, VHLM. Linus Zetterstrom and the Las Vegas Aces are coming for your championship 

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Yo Malmo Nighthawks should be checking out this kid