Sweden Stock Watch: Alfons Freij's puck-moving game impressing with Timrå

The Swedish season has already reached the first third of the regular seasons and we have just finished an international break where all national teams from U17 to the senior team have played tournaments. 

Sweden hosted and won the U18 5-Nations, with a team that will have several players on our next ranking. The top talents played on the U20 team, and will most probably make the World Junior team as well. 

All four Swedes on our Top 32-ranking in September now play senior hockey, as Malte Gustafsson made his SHL debut just before the break.

However, there are several NHL-affiliated prospects who have emerged, and making strides in their development after being drafted. Here are the players I chose to put focus on in this month's edition.

Stock Rising 📈  

Alfons Freij, D, Timrå IK (Winnipeg Jets)

Alfons Freij had a tough draft-plus-one season, with injury issues disturbing his first senior level season. His talent level and potential still saw him make the jump from HockeyAllsvenskan to the SHL for this season, and he has slowly earned himself a higher spot in Timrå’s hierarchy. He also jumped to play the point position on one of the team’s power play units. 

The biggest reason for his increased ice-time was that he brought something to Timrå’s game that other defenceman lacked, which was his impressive puck-moving abilities. His retrieval game is excellent at the SHL level, with strong awareness of space, smooth mobility and a willingness to play the puck. He also shows a strong ability to handle the puck under pressure. 

It’s still remarkable how he hasn’t gotten a point yet, but Timrå is a low-scoring team and it will only be a matter of time, as he is creating scoring chances. He was a point-per-game with the U20 National team this weekend, and the poise he showed there also is a big improvement from what we saw from him at the World Junior Summer Showcase at the end of July. 

Freij is a top-four defenseman prospect who still needs to add a stronger all-around game. He still looks to be a couple years away from playing in the NHL, but his puck-moving under pressure looks projectable to the NHL level.

Love Härenstam, G, Södertälje SK (St. Louis Blues)

Love Härenstam fell a bit in the draft last season after being one of the top goalies beforehand. That didn’t keep Södertälje from recruiting the 18-year-old to the pro level from the junior league. 

He earned the starting job right away, and although the team has gotten a bad start, their goaltending from Härenstam has been impressive. Even though he has only won three out of ten starts, he has put up strong numbers and given his team a chance to win every game. 

Härenstam's play-reading and positioning on the first shot is strong. He is also a fast goalie in the crease and can react fast to high danger chances. He still needs some detailing on how he can have a better position off rebounds or not to let the top of the net as much open as he does when moving sideways. He is quick and athletic, but falls down too low with his upper body. Still, playing pro level at this age and this good is impressive. He will definitely be one of the goalies for Sweden at the World Juniors.

Bruno Osmanis, RW, IF Björklöven (2026 NHL Draft)

For players who went unpicked the 2025 NHL Draft, Bruno Osmanis was the biggest surprise for our team. The Latvian winger has always found a way to impress me when I saw him play. 

I was therefore further surprised to see him struggle for ice-time with Björklöven again to start this season. Slowly, Osmanis has earned more and more trust, and is now a player that sees power play time and has started to produce points in Allsvenskan as well. He produces as a play driver too, and creates a lot of offence in the ice time he gets. He is a skilled and deceptive playmaker and it is also showing in Allsvenskan this season. 

If we had the right assessment of him last season, Osmanis will just continue to impress and produce, and have an even more impressive World Juniors. He looks to be a strong re-entry draft candidate, and SHL teams will start looking at him for next season.

Stock Steady ↔️

Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, C/RW, Luleå HF/IF Björklöven (Vegas Golden Knights)

The journey from a top producing junior player to a top-six forward at the pro level already started last season for Jakob Ihs-Wozniak. There, he worked on playing a more translatable game at the U20 level. 

A player with Ihs-Wozniak's talent profile, with clinical high-end skills but with the lack of pace and intensity, is expected to need time and patience from him and his coaches. At the moment, his younger teammate Casper Juustovaara Karlsson, who has a more defensively strong profile, plays ahead of him both in Luleå and with the U20 National team. 

Therefore, it was a wise choice to loan Ihs-Wozniak down to Björklöven in HockeyAllsvenskan, as he started putting up points in his first two games. The plan now is for him to play the rest of the season with Björklöven. it will allow his skill to pop in the offensive zone, and his lethal one-timer is still there. He will get a lot of chances to score playing in Björklöven, as they are the top team in the league.

Filip Eriksson, LW/RW, Luleå HF (Montreal Canadiens)

Filip Eriksson keeps taking strides in his development and has been a strong point producer in the SHL to start this season. However, his production has slowed down as of late. He is a top-six forward at the SHL level, and is a hard-working player with quick hands and a lethal wrist shot. He thinks the game quickly and shows good offensive instincts, finding open spaces. 

As a former 6th round pick, his development looks good, and he might be a player that will play NHL games in the future. He lacks above average tools other than his wrist shot and he isn’t likely to become a top-six forward at the NHL, but if the right opportunity presents itself he might be a scoring option as a third-liner with his quick, intense style and inside-driven mindset. Next season should be the season he steps over to North America, but long term, a strong AHL or Europe career is more likely.

Stock Falling 📉 

Marcus Gidlöf, G, Leksands IF (New York Islanders)

Marcus Gidlöf came into this season after a breakout year where he established himself as the top goalie prospect still playing in Sweden. He has had a tougher start to this season though, with poor numbers, and hasn’t been the primary starter for Leksand. However, I still assess him as an NHL prospect. 

Gidlöf is good at being in a good position and relies on his size and puck control to make saves, which are strong assets. He lacks body-movement quickness, though, and when facing more complex movement patterns, he can get exposed as pro-level shooters start to learn about his strength and weaknesses. 

He is a goalie that stands up more than average, and goes down mostly when a shot is fired or when opponents control the puck behind the net. Physical strength and athleticism will be vital to be able to keep being strong in holding up his upper body and improve the speed of his body mobility. His hockey sense, puck control and size are all projectable to the NHL.