Although the coronavirus pandemic has prevented us from seeing our favorite players on the ice, the job of a general manager never stops. Last week, it was announced that GM Chuck Fletcher signed Swedish forward Linus Sandin to a one-year entry-level contract. This contract is for the 2020-21 season, so Sandin would not be eligible to play for Philadelphia should the 2019-20 season resume at any point. Now that he is officially in the forward mix for next season, let’s take a look into what Sandin brings to the table.
The soon-to-be-24-year-old right winger is coming off of a stellar season for HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he scored 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 51 games. His 19 goals were the highest on his team, and were tied for third in the SHL. In each of his goals this season, Sandin displayed a knack for getting into the dirty areas of the ice and a fast shot. He loves to create chaos in the front of the net and rip shots past the goaltender. These scoring tactics will serve him well as he transitions to playing in North America. This past season, he averaged 15.5 minutes per game. In his three-year SHL career, the 6’1″ forward has scored 66 points in 143 games. Sandin, the older brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin, also hails from the same town, Uppsala, Sweden, as current Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg.
In a statement released by the team, Fletcher noted that Sandin is a player who “can come in and compete for a spot right away. He works extremely hard and we expect him to add size, skill and tenacity to our forward group.” The Swedish star now joins an already-crowded list of players competing for spots on the forward corps next season, joining fellow recent ELC-signers Tanner Laczynski and Wade Allison as new players looking to crack the opening night roster. Philadelphia’s forward depth was one of the biggest reasons for the Flyers’ success this season, and now it looks to be even deeper with Sandin in the mix.
Welcome, to Philadelphia, Linus! We are happy to have you and can’t wait to see you on the ice wearing orange and black!
Image credit to Hockey News SE.
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