MARYLAND HEIGHTS -- Theo Lindstein had every right to be bitter.
But the St. Louis Blues first round pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft made the most of an opportunity presented to him by another's misfortune.
The defenseman, in his first season playing for Brynäs I in Sweden's top professional league, not only helped Sweden to the silver medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship but wasn't just a warm body the Swedes could use.
Lindstein, 19, arguably was Sweden's best blue liner, leading all defensemen in points with eight (two goals, six assists) and finished tied for third in plus-minus (plus-9), which was tied among all defensemen in the tournament.
Not bad for a guy that was only selected when Sweden's Jakob Noren sustained an injury.
"I think the one guy that surprised everybody was Theo Lindstein," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Monday. "He had a great tournament. He wasn't selected to the team and then there was an injury and in the first game, somebody got suspended for that game and the next game, he took full advantage of it making the all-star team, a top-producing player for a really good Sweden team. He'll be back there next year with a ton of confidence in that tournament."
Armstrong was in Sweden to take in the seven Blues prospects live, and perhaps underestimated who Lindstein could model himself after as he ascends towards a career in the NHL one day.
"I mentioned when I left I thought he was Carl Gunnarsson," Armstrong said. "No disrespect to 'Gunny' whatsoever, but I didn't know he could skate to the level he could skate at and his ability to pass the puck at the NHL level. He's an NHL passer now, the firmness and the crispness, he made it look like he's a player that offensive players want to play with. Just his overall skating and his firmness was very impressive."
Armstrong didn't get the chance to speak personally with Lindstein, but former Blue and current European player development consultant Alexander Steen, whose fingerprints were all over the drafting of not only Lindstein but fellow Swede Otto Stenberg (No. 25, 2023), made sure Lindstein was in a good place entering the tournament despite his initial omission.
"No, I didn't talk to him. I didn't talk to any of the players personally over there, but obviously Alexander Steen was coaching on that team," Armstrong said. "He told him, 'It doesn't really matter how you get here, you're here. It's how you take advantage of it.'"
"All the guys did a great job there. I thought Stenberg too; Stenberg and [Aleksanteri] Kaskimaki (third round, 2022, Finland) really impressed me with their 200-foot game. I think they're really going to be good pro players. They've got those pro attributes, they go the front of the net, especially Kaskimaki. We talked when we went over there that those two in particular are playing in men's teams and getting offensive situations and we were hoping that they would be among their peer group and take advantage of that, and I thought they did. You feel like sort of a proud papa right now. But really happy for our amateur staff because they put a lot of work in. To come back with the goals and assists and total points that those guys got, plus not doing it and winning a lot of medals shows that they can be on good teams."
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