The Carolina Hurricanes are a very deep team defensively, not only on their roster but also in terms of their prospect pool. That’s what makes Jesper Sellgren a bit of an afterthought when it comes to the organizational depth chart.
Sellgren is a left-handed defenseman and was selected by the Hurricanes in the sixth-round of the 2018 NHL Draft, after being passed over not once, but twice. He then made the jump to the SHL, Sweden’s highest professional league, where he’s had success. Over the last three seasons (including the current one), Sellgren has a combined 45 points in 120 games, along with a plus-25 rating. This season, he’s scored nine points in 21 games.
He also joined the Charlotte Checkers for their Calder Cup run in 2019 and in his first stint playing professional hockey in North America, he scored four points in 11 playoff games. He was an important addition to the lineup and remember, he wasn’t even 21 years old at that point.
It would be interesting to see how Sellgren performs once he makes the jump to North America on a full-time basis. This would give Hurricanes’ management a better look at whether or not he could fit with the team down the road.
Of course, the issue with Sellgren’s chances of making the NHL are who he’ll be competing against. The Hurricanes already have three defensemen signed to long-term deals, along with Dougie Hamilton, who will hopefully sign one as well, and key young defenders in Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury. This doesn’t include Jake Gardiner or prospects like Joey Keane, Gustav Forsling or Roland McKeown either.
Sellgren isn’t going to displace any of the Hurricanes’ top defenders but he shouldn’t be forgotten about as a player who could potentially make the jump to the NHL in the next few years. It’s just a matter of whether he’ll get that opportunity, on such a crowded blue line.
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Here’s today’s poll questions (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think Jesper Sellgren will earn a spot with the Hurricanes at some point?
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