Islanders prospect Ljungkrantz loaned to Swedish Div 1 side

New York Islanders 2020 third-round pick Alexander Ljungkrantz has been loaned to Stromsbro of the Hockeyettan league.

SHL side Brynas has informed me today that New York Islanders third-round pick Alexander Ljungkratnz has been sent out on loan to Hockeyettan side Stromsbro IF.

Hockeyettan is the third-division of Swedish hockey. The SHL is at the top, then the Allsvenskan, and then Hockeyettan. Think of it as the equivalent of the ECHL here in North America.

And while going from the SHL to Hockeyettan (or NHL to ECHL in North American terms) doesn’t sound great, it actually is for Ljungkrantz.

It’s a Good Thing

Before the loan, Ljungkrantz may have been getting SHL time, but it wasn’t much time at all really. Here’s Ljungkrantz’s ice-time over Brynas’s last five games:

• December 3 vs. Leksands: 9:11
• December 5 vs. Skelleftea: 2:59
• December 28 vs. Malmo: 0:00
• December 30 vs. Farjestad: *healthy scratch*
• January 2 vs. Leksands: *healthy scratch*

Whatever ice-time he had deteriorated over the last few weeks. Which makes sense considering Brynas is at the bottom of the SHL standings. With every game important to the team staying in Sweden’s top division it’s not likely young guys like Ljungkrantz get ice-time.

Sending him back to the U20 side would make sense except for the fact that they’re still on pause for the time being.

The loan allows Ljungkrantz to move between Brynas and Stromsbro. A Brynas spokesperson told me the loan works much like a two-way deal in the NHL/AHL.

Stromsbro is currently sixth in the Hockeyettan Östra (East) division with 35 points from 21 games played. I’m still waiting to hear from Stromsbro about how they plan to use Ljungkrantz. Ideally, the Islanders prospect plays in the top-six and gets power-play time. Stromsbro has the fifth-best power play in the entire 47 team Hockeyettan league with a 31.46% efficiency.

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This doesn’t seem like a step up, but it very much is for Ljungkrantz. With Strombro he’ll likely get top-six playing time in a men’s league and not a developmental one like Brynas’s U20 squad.