Carolina Hurricanes: A Look Into the Development of Jesper Sellgren

Jesper Sellgren gave Caniacs a glimpse of what he can do during the Calder Cup Playoffs last season. But can he reach the NHL and the Carolina Hurricanes?

In what is unanimously considered one of the deepest defensive groups in the NHL, the road for Canes prospects on the back-end looking to make the jump has been a very difficult task.

Haydn Fleury, the 7th overall pick in 2014, is still barely just finding his way. Roland McKeown, acquired in February of 2015, has been patiently waiting for a chance that seems unlikely to come. Jake Bean, the Canes’ 13th overall pick in 2016, is all but ready for the NHL but there’s just no room right now.

With those things considered, the road to the NHL seems to be a long one for young Swedish-born Jesper Sellgren, who was drafted 166th overall by Carolina in 2018 after being passed over by the entire NHL in his first two years of draft eligibility.

Likely overlooked because his diminutive size for a potential NHL defender, Sellgren’s talents had become too noticeable for the NHL to keep passing on. As such, the Hurricanes got a kid 2 years further into his development than most kids from the 2018 draft, and it looks like Sellgren could carve out an NHL future for himself.

His Story

If you go to google and type in “Jesper Sellgren 2016 draft”, nothing of importance regarding the search appears. He wasn’t even a blip on the radar in his draft year. If you do the same thing and put “2017” the results are also sparse.

It seems rather fair to say that this kid was virtually unknown to the NHL landscape until the 2018 World Junior tournament, where he emerged as a real dynamic piece on the Swedish blueline. Scouts and observers raved at his ability – despite just one point in the tournament, he showed a calming presence exiting his zone and nice defensive instincts for a guy his size.

Sellgren was listed at just 5’10, 143lbs when he was drafted, but at Canes training camp this past summer, the team listed him at 5’11, 169. It’s a good sign that he’s added some mass. He’s not an overly physical player, but he uses leverage and angles to his advantage when defending. His high hockey IQ also helps in that regard, and he’s quick at processing plays as they happen.

Anyway, during his initial draft year, Sellgren was playing for MODO of the  SuperElit league in Sweden, which is the highest level of junior hockey over there. He moved up to the Allsvenskan league the following year, which is more or less the Swedish AHL, and had decent results, but nothing eye-popping enough to be drafted as a first-time overager.

The next year was obviously when Sellgren got his chance to show scouts his ability with the Swedish WJC team. Despite having first-round talents like Erik Brannstrom, Rasmus Dahlin and Timothy Liljegren alongside him, Sellgren was heralded by some as the best Swedish defender in the tournament, and he led his team in ice-time during the Goal Medal game that year.

Scouts were very impressed by Sellgren’s performance, and he got a ringing endorsement from credential Athletic prospect writer Corey Pronman:

As such, when the 2018 NHL draft rolled around, Sellgren was a fixture on a lot of draft boards. Some scouting outlets had him as high as the 4th round, but he ultimately slid to the Hurricanes in the 6th, 166th overall, who now stand to reap the rewards of Sellgren being overlooked.

Charlotte Stint

After Sellgren’s successful season concluded over in Sweden last year, he came over to join Charlotte on their Calder Cup playoff run, and became an insanely important piece for that team. He ended up moving all the way up to the first defensive pairing, and really wow’ed avid Checkers supporters.

“It took exactly one shift in his first game in North America to realize that [Carolina] picked a future NHL defenseman. He turned heads immediately” – Checkers commentator Jason Shaya said of Sellgren.

During his Checkers playoff stint, Sellgren contributed 3 goals and an assist in 11 games, and helped them hoist the Cup. He showed off his shooting ability in Game 3 against the Toronto Marlies, firing an absolute laser to give the Checkers a 2-1 lead:

Sellgren earned himself his NHL entry-level contract during the playoffs, as Don Waddell and Co. were undoubtedly impressed with what they saw from him.

“Jesper is a solid, two-way defenseman who played for one of the top teams in Sweden in 2018-19, We’re looking forward to him taking the next steps in his development.” said Don Waddell in the Canes’ press release.

He took his brilliant run of form with him to the Hurricanes training camp this past summer, and managed to turn heads along the way. Rod Brind’Amour in particular took notice.

“I like the way he thinks the game,” Brind’Amour said of Sellgren. “He’s got that smooth, silky way he moves around. That’s today’s game. It’s important.”

Sellgren ended up playing in 2 preseason games for the team – averaging over 19 minutes a game, with 2+ minutes on each the powerplay and penalty kill units. He didn’t register any points, but he played all situations and gained some viable experience against NHL talent. He recorded 4 shots on goal and had a takeaway in those two games.

Overall, his development over the years and particularly since being drafted has been impressive, but what might his future hold?

His Future

Sellgren’s impressive training camp may have been good enough for him to make the team in previous years, but unfortunately the Canes’ depth on the back-end left him with no real chance at a spot. Fortunately he’s in a good program with Lulea, playing top minutes for a top team.

On the horizon, Joel Edmundson and Trevor van Riemsdyk slated to be unrestricted free agents this summer, and it seems rather likely(?) that one of them or perhaps both will depart. That would figure to open up a spot on the Canes defense. The Canes currently only have Slavin, Pesce, Hamilton and Gardiner under contract for next year, with Haydn Fleury set to be a restricted free agent again.

Those four under contract figure to be back, and with Fleury’s trajectory on the up (he’s been phenomenal recently) he seems to be establishing himself as a piece for the long-term. Re-signing Fleury would leave one open spot, in which Sellgren would have to compete with Jake Bean, Chase Priskie, and potentially Roland McKeown and Gustav Forsling if they’re retained (both are RFAs).

It’s also maybe premature to assume that Carolina won’t end up re-signing either Edmundson or TVR, but they do seem like long shots to be brought back at this point and it’ll likely come down to money. The Canes have also added defensemen via free agency the last couple off-seasons (Calvin de Haan, Jake Gardiner) so they could also opt to explore that route again.

With all that considered, despite his skill level, it seems rather difficult to envision an easy route to the Canes blue-line for Sellgren. Obviously, only 6 defensemen can play at a time, and the Canes already have a solid core group of them on the team. When you factor in the depth of the prospect group, competition is stiff for Sellgren.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

It’s going to take an overly dominant camp next summer or (unfortunately) an injury at some point for Sellgren to get his shot. He’s only 21, so he doesn’t need to be rushed yet, and when you factor in his pro experience and his honest style of play he does provide optimism as an enticing option for the Canes moving forward.

He’s a kid that has all the tools to be a piece of the puzzle that’s being constructed in Carolina – although unfortunately not every piece will be able to fit. The depth chart leaves his Canes future cloudy, but he’s a guy that will definitely be playing in the NHL somewhere down the road. And the hope here is that it’ll be as a Hurricane.

Question for CC Readers: When, and where will Jesper Sellgren fit into the Canes lineup?