In what may be foreshadowing their odds of making NHL rosters this fall, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg and Carolina’s Elias Lindholm have been dropped from Team Sweden’s entry at USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp.
The pair were two of the biggest names from Sweden’s original roster, released on July 19.
Forsberg, taken 11th overall at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, made his NHL debut with Nashville last season, appearing in five games while averaging 15:29 TOI per game as an 18-year-old.
Lindholm -- Carolina’s first-round pick at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, fifth overall -- is the highest-drafted Swede since Gabriel Landeskog went No. 2 in 2011.
Lindholm is expected to make the ‘Canes roster this fall.
“The opportunity is there to start with the Hurricanes,” GM Jim Rutherford told the Raleigh News & Observer. “I would be shocked if he doesn’t based on all the reports and what I’ve seen.”
As such, many figure Team Sweden has removed the pair to look at players with an actual chance of being available for selection.
The U.S. NJEC runs from Aug. 3-10 and will feature four countries -- the United States, Sweden, Canada and Finland. It will be the first major look at junior-level talent prior to the 2014 World Championships, which get underway on Dec. 26 from Malmo, Sweden.