Report: Ottawa’s Swedish league sensation to make NHL debut vs. New York

Mike Halford

Apr 23, 2012, 2:19 PM EDT

11 Comments

From the “didn’t see this coming” file…

According to Renaud Lavoie of RDS, Senators prospect Jakob Silfverberg will make his NHL debut tonight on the biggest of stages — Game 6 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the New York Rangers.

Sportsnet’s Ian Mendes says Silfverberg sounds like a guy preparing to play.

“Of course I will be a bit nervous,” he explained. “But as soon the game starts, it will be gone by then.”

Silfverberg, 21, was drafted 39th overall by Ottawa in 2009. He spent this past season leading Byrnas IF Savle of the Swedish Elite League in scoring en route to winning the league’s most valuable player award.

He then proceeded to lead the SEL in playoff scoring….and captured postseason MVP honors as well.

So yeah, kid’s got a resume.

It sounds as though he’ll draw into the lineup and replace Mark Stone, the 19-year-old rookie that made his NHL debut in Game 5, assisting on Jason Spezza‘s game-winning tally.

While some might question the thinking behind throwing Silfverberg into playoff action, it should be noted he’s only five days removed from winning the SEL championship.

“It’s a dream come true,” Silfverberg told the Globe and Mail.

PHT Fun Fact: Silfverberg wore No. 100 for Brynas this season. Yeah, seriously.

Update

From NHL.com…

According to an article by Henrik Sjoberg on Expressen.se, Ottawa Senators forward Jakob Silfverberg will make his NHL debut in Game 6 against the New York Rangers on Monday at Scotiabank Place (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC). Ottawa has a 3-2 lead in the series and can close the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup with a win against the top-seeded Rangers.

“I’m playing,” Silfverberg says in the article.

Silfverberg took part in the morning skate Monday, seeing time on the top line with Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza. After the skate, Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said he still was considering the possibility of playing Silfverberg.

The player, though, said the decision already has been made.

“I’m slated to play with Spezza and Michalek but I’m pretty sure they’ll shuffle the lines quite a bit so we’ll just see,” Silfverberg said in the Expressen.se article.

Say this about the Senators and MacLean — they’ve shown some real moxie this series.

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