According to Aftonbladet’s Hans Abrahamsson and Tomas Ros, several SHL teams are attempting to secure the rights to MODO defenseman and Red Wings prospect William Wallinder. Here’s a rough translation of their Swedish-language report:
The SHL teams are fighting for the defensive talent
Modo’s defensive factory has produced player after player in the SHL in recent years.
Now William Wallinder, 18, is the next name on SHL teams’ radar.
According to Sportbladet’s information, the talented defenseman is heavily courted by Rogle and Brynas.
Jesper Sellgren, Mattias Norlinder, Victor Berglund and now William Wallinder. In recent years, MODO has produced defensemen weho have been drafted and signed by SHL teams.
William Wallinder, whose parent team is Solleftea, was selected early in the second round by the Detroit Red Wings, and is seen by the team as a potential NHL defenseman. He was also selected by the Swedish World Junior Championship team, but was deleted from the squad after a positive coronavirus test.
Continued play in the Allsvenskan with a big role is a possibility for the big defenseman. Playing with an SHL team to take the next step is another option.
And the interest from SHL teams is great.
According to Sportbladet’s information, Brynas and Rogle are the hardest hitters.
Detroit has a lot of influence
Top team Rogle has had great success with another young Detroit talent. Defenseman Moritz Seider has been loaned to Rogle, where he’s been successful during the autumn.
Wallinder’s agent, Andreas West, doesn’t want to comment on any teams for the upcoming season:
“He is MODO’s player and is under contract. We will deal with everything else later. Right now, William is fully focused on playing as well as possible with MODO. We’re very pleased with his development there.”
West does say, however, that Detroit has great influence over where Wallinder plays next season.
“Yes, Detroit has a lot to say about that here, as always, when a player is drafted by an NHL team.”
In this autumn’s 16 games, William Wallinder has posted 3 points (0 goals + 3 assists).
