Four Anaheim Ducks Prospects in the World Junior Showcase
By Ciara Durant
Isac Lundeström Is Shining For Team Sweden
One of the newer faces to the Anaheim Ducks prospect pool, Isac Lundeström, is making his mark at the World Junior Showcase this year. The young forward was drafted first by the Anaheim Ducks during the entry draft in June, he is taking advantage of the opportunity to represent his homeland.
Last year, Lundeström made a positive impression during the World Junior Showcase with his smart on-ice tactics. The impact he made resulted in him being invited to represent Team Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He is looking to repeat that again this year with an invitation to Vancouver in December.
Lundeström seemed to come into the showcase with even more confidence this year. Team Sweden has been consistently looking to him as their second line center, and reasonably so. After game three on Tuesday, July 31, which ended in a 4-3 shootout loss against Finland, Lundeström was named the player of the game.
This game didn’t result in any goals for Lundeström, nor did his first, but he impressed the coaches with his strong two-way game. His keen sense of when to play offensively versus defensively made up for the fact that he had yet to put any points on the board.
All of that changed during game six on Wednesday, August 2. Sweden faced-off against team USA early in the afternoon. His teammate, Rickard Hugg, put Sweden’s first two goals on the board. Nevertheless, Lundeström was given the chance to shine during the first period.
At 15:07, after he turned a pass from teammate Jonatan Berggren into his first goal of the showcase. Although Sweden started off strong in game six, Team USA came back from behind and won 5-4 in overtime. Despite the loss, Lundestrom was in the top three for point production on Team Sweden for game six.
Isac Lundeström and Team Sweden still have two more games in the showcase over the next two days. With his performance throughout the earlier games, it is likely we will continue to see him in the second line center position. This will give him plenty of opportunities to impress his coaches and hopefully solidify his roster spot in the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship.