In-depth breakdown: Theo Lindstein (2023 draft profile)

You may have noticed the name of Theo Lindstein in team Sweden recently. The young defenceman is one of the best d-man in the WJC 2024 right now. And he was not invited at all ! Here’s the 2023 draft profile of Theo Lindstein from our analyst Simon St-Laurent !

Theo Lindstein is a defender who had a funny season. He started the campaign as a top draft prospect, but after a rather ordinary performance at the Hlinka Tournament, he was sidelined for first-round talks. Personally, I didn’t have time to devote to him after seeing that he couldn’t even produce in the J20 circuit in the fall. But when I watched games of the 5-Nations tournament in February, to my surprise, he was very good. He had also had a much better tournament than Sandin-Pelikka, with whom he was paired on the same defensive duo. His case made me think a bit of that of his compatriot Otto Stenberg where he was seen as a high-level prospect who could bring offense, and following a disappointing start to the season, he reinvented himself as a different player who manages to make an identity among the professionals. I watched a lot of his SHL games and he was very impressed, especially during the month of February. My projection of the player was the same as I do now, but I had somewhat overestimated some of his qualities and he was starting to maraud around 20th on my list. Additional viewing in SHL as well as the U-18 tournament will have allowed me to rectify the situation.

His game relies mainly on his skating, which is the foundation of his effectiveness on the ice. He has a very good top speed as well as good multidirectional mobility and good general fluidity to follow the opposing team forwards, regardless of the attack pattern. He manages to keep up with good SHL skaters in defensive backcheck situations without any problem. His backwards skating is also very good and he will not be bypassed.

In possession of the puck, he manages to get rid of the cover easily and is able to make occasional breakthrough with the puck where he allows himself to attack his opponents with speed and confidence.

One aspect that I like about his skating is that there is no difference in the level of the explosion and his top speed at the beginning of a shift or at the very end of it. He shows a good level of conditioning.

He stands out more for the quality of his defensive game than for his offensive. His skating allows him to cover a lot of space quickly and he can close spaces that have opened up following confusion with partners in his zone, or simply to come and save a teammate who has been caught.

What impressed me about his defensive efficiency was seeing how well he performed in one-on-one battle situations. He works particularly well in the corners of the rink, he makes sure to have physical contact with his opponent by keeping one arm under him, and by working with his free arm with his stick to play the puck, while remaining glued to the player. He also maintains a wide base of skate so that his opponent cannot turn to one side or the other and go around him. He wins a good percentage of his battles along the boards, against men, which is very impressive. He defends the neutral zone very well also with his active stick and good positioning.

He also protects his front of the net well despite ‘Ok’ size (6’0 and 181 lbs). He will proactively place his body in front of the forward to prevent him from blocking his goaltender’s view.

He defends smartly by ensuring proper positioning as he is constantly looking over his shoulder for the location at all times of the player he is supposed to be covering.

Lindstein is a defenseman who facilitates the transition of his team. He exhibits such calm and startling confidence as he is seen communicating to his forwards (some nearly twice his age) where to stand on the ice and where to go. He moves well and can influence the positioning of his opponents so as to open up certain places to simplify the task for his partners. He usually chooses plays with a high success rate.

One thing that greatly increases his effectiveness in this aspect is that he has the ability to distribute the puck skillfully from his backhand during zone exits. It may seem trivial, but it is quite an asset to have in a defender and it is not that common. When we talk about having good hands with a forward, it is above all in the optic of creating plays and offering additional offensive creativity, which is a quality, of course, but it is above all complementary. For a defenseman, I would be ready to argue that having a certain ease in handling the puck is a necessity! Not necessarily to perform cookie-cutter rushes, but rather to know how to get rid of the pressure in your area and avoid being trapped and spending long seconds in your own zone. Having a decent pair of hands and the ability to make a backhand pass to a defender could be the difference between a clean breakout or a costly turnover.

The Swedish defender will not be among the core of his team’s offensive, but he still demonstrates certain qualities. All in all, he moves the puck quite well and he remains alert to situations where he could go deeper to jump on a shot rebound at the top of the slot. He is a player who follows the actions well and who has good positioning, just like defensively. And speaking of shooting, Lindstein is a player who likes to keep his shots low to force rebounds.

It will be interesting to follow with which formation he will line up with next season. In my eyes he did very well in SHL, but his club was relegated to the 2nd division (in Allsvenskan) following their elimination against Malmo. He could be loaned out to an SHL team, as was the case with Adam Engstrom this season.

Like I said in the intro, my projection of the defender is the same as when he was higher on my list. I see a 5th defenseman in the NHL, at best, a 4th. I will admit, however, that I had a little too enthusiastic of a view of his skating and his handling of the puck.

He is a player who has no ‘It factor’. He’s a pretty vanilla player.

Number of games watched : 24