Just before the June 1st deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers have signed Linus Högberg.
The Philadelphia Flyers have signed 2016 5th round pick, Linus Högberg, to an entry-level contract.
The contract will begin starting next season for the 6’1″, 176 pound Swedish defenseman.
OFFICIAL: We’ve signed defenseman Linus Hogberg an entry-level contract, which will begin in 2020-21. Hogberg was selected as the club's fifth-round pick (139th overall) in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. pic.twitter.com/qrmbM5ac5g
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 30, 2020
Högberg, who turns 22 in September, is a defensive defenseman with some offensive upside who could start next season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. After compiling 9 goals and 21 assists for 30 points in 144 regular season games in the SHL, Högberg is finally making the trip across the pond to play professionally in the States.
If Högberg does indeed play for the Phantoms next season, he’ll be joining the likes of Yegor Zamula, Wyatte Wylie, and potentially Wyatt Kalynuk, who has been rumored to be turning pro very soon. As you can see, there will be a lot to potentially look forward to with this young defense corps next season comprising of four promising rookies on the roster for Lehigh Valley.
With the Flyers already rostering mainstay defenseman like Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, and Phil Myers, it will be interesting to see how things shake out in the future for the club.
Having said that, Högberg projects to be no more than a third line pairing defender in the NHL. This is far from a knock as Flyers fans have seen recently the importance of defensive depth and the many benefits of having tough minute eating defenders.
The Flyers have also now signed every player drafted from the 2016 NHL Draft besides 7th round pick David Bernhardt. Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski signed earlier this spring, while German Rubtstov, Carsen Twarynski, and Connor Bunnaman have all seen time with the Flyers this season as well as with the Phantoms.
There were rumors the Flyers were not going to offer Högberg an ELC, thus allowing his contract to expire, but the Flyers had other plans as they’ve added yet another young piece to what is already a prospect pipeline loaded with solid talent.