Calle Odelius won't be attending Islanders training camp

Islanders fans will have to wait to see D Calle Odelius on the ice in orange and blue.

The New York Islanders had signed their 2022 second-round pick (65th overall) back in July to a three-year entry-level contract. That part of Wednesday's announcement was not a surprise. Neither was the fact that he would be loaned to the Djurgarden Hockey Club in Sweden to play this season.

Calle Odelius won't be attending Islanders training camp

But it was a mild surprise, however, to learn that Odelius won't be participating in prospect development camp or training camp later this month with other draft picks who have signed NHL contracts. The thinking is that he needs time to prepare for the season in Sweden, which begins on September 23rd.

Odelius played most of 2021-22 at the U-20 level in Sweden, playing 43 games (7 goals, 23 assists) for Djugardens, who was regulated to the second division league, HockeyAllsvenskan. In the first division Swedish Hockey League (SHL), he played seven games and was held without a point.

"I have a contract with Djurgarden for two years," Odellius told Michel Anderson on Deckhands: An Islanders Prospect Channel. "The plan is to play with Djurgarden this year, and after that, the next season, I think I will come over and try to make the team or play in the AHL."

The scouting report on Odelius is that he is a smooth puck-moving defenseman with above-average skating. He shows good situational awareness and creative play-making ability in the offensive end, but like most young defensemen, needs to get stronger in his own zone and make better, more consistent decisions with the puck.

“I think it all depends how this season turns out,” Michael Holmqvist, Odelius's U-20 coach, told the New York Post about his chances to play in North America after this season.

“If he can have a big role or grow into a big role on this team, then maybe own this level — like he feels comfortable to play on this level [the Allsvenskan]. Then whatever happens the year after that, if Djugardens goes up [to the SHL] again, maybe try to own that level as well and then be ready to be closer to the NHL instead of going over right away and trying to work himself into senior hockey over there.”