![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-votes-16.png\")
<\/p>\nIntroduction<\/p>\n
Adam Engstr\u00f6m had been an offensive-minded defenceman in R\u00f6gle, a player that the team depended on to carry the puck through the neutral zone and over the offensive blue line. It was at the other end that he shone during his first season with the AHL\u2019s Laval Rocket.<\/p>\n
He wanted to shore up his defence, making sure to become a true defender. The shift was partly due to R\u00f6gle\u2019s loss in the Le Mat Trophy final by four games to one, when R\u00f6gle\u2019s defence was a bit exposed, but also to become more off an all-around player and maximize his NHL chances.<\/p>\n
He struggled as the season got under way; not the adjustment to the smaller ice, but rather living in another country. That was the biggest challenge, and Gustav Lindstr\u00f6m as a fellow Swede and Daniel Jacob became important pillars in his development. In a conversation with Engstr\u00f6m in June, he concluded that Jacob taught defence in the same way as R\u00f6gle\u2019s defensive coach Max Bohlin (who is the guest on today\u2019s podcast), and that familiarity made things easier.<\/p>\n
After the Christmas break, his game really took off. In the end, he finished the season as one of, if not the best defender after a deep playoff run with the Rocket. He had 27 points (5G, 22A) in 66 games, behind Logan Mailloux\u2019s leading 33 (12G, 21A) in 63 matches.<\/p>\n
People from other teams as well as within the Canadiens organization have mentioned in private that he was \u201cthe best defender for Laval in the playoffs,\u201d with one team staff member saying \u201cwe actively coached against Engstr\u00f6m in order to avoid him.\u201d It is safe to say his first season in North America showcased that he could play in this setting as well.<\/p>\n
Voting<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Engstr\u00f6m had five placements at 11th or 12th and another five between 18 and 21. He missed out on finishing 15th in the countdown by the slimmest possible margin: one-twelfth of a point.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/16-Engstrom-C.png\")
<\/p>\n
The pattern of the panellist vote is reflected somewhat in the community sample as well, with one peak around 13th and 14th and the main one a few spots later.<\/p>\n
Top 25 Under 25 History<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Engstrom-2022-25.png\")
<\/p>\n
Engstr\u00f6m holds the series record with that 28-place jump from his draft year in 2022 to 2023. He fell four spots in 2024 after Montreal made a couple of first-round selections, and holds steady at 16th once again.<\/p>\n
History of #16<\/p>\n
Year
\n #16<\/p>\n
2025
\n Adam Engstr\u00f6m<\/p>\n
2024
\n Adam Engstr\u00f6m<\/p>\n
2023
\n Logan Mailloux<\/p>\n
2022
\n Mattias Norlinder<\/p>\n
2021
\n Oliver Kapanen<\/p>\n
2020
\n Jordan Harris<\/p>\n
2019
\n Mattias Norlinder<\/p>\n
2018
\n Josh Brook<\/p>\n
2017
\n Jake Evans<\/p>\n
2016
\n Charlie Lindgren<\/p>\n
2015
\n Daniel Carr<\/p>\n
2014
\n Greg Pateryn<\/p>\n
2013
\n Morgan Ellis<\/p>\n
2012
\n Dalton Thrower<\/p>\n
2011
\n Brock Trotter<\/p>\n
2010
\n Aaron Palushaj<\/p>\n
Strengths<\/p>\n
While it wasn\u2019t shown as much in Laval last year, it is the transitional play that is Engstr\u00f6m\u2019s bread and butter, and this relies on his exceptional skating. His fluidity on his skates makes him stand out, even if it\u2019s not technically perfect. He generates a lot of power and he can skate almost as fast backward as forward. It was only occasionally in the AHL that he showcased his skating on end-to-end transitions due to the fact that he wanted to be responsible in the defensive aspect of the game.<\/p>\n
He keeps the puck close when he\u2019s rushing up ice with it, ready to make a quick move if needed. He controls the puck well and can set up good attacks with crisp passes. While he didn\u2019t score a lot last season, he has an accurate shot, but seems to look for setup plays rather than shots. This is reminiscent of his first year in the SHL when he almost always deferred to others rather than going for the shot on his own.<\/p>\n
Once more I have to spotlight the fight in Engstr\u00f6m, the drive he has. When he arrived in R\u00f6gle, he was supposed to play at the under-20 level; he finished that season on the top pairing of the SHL team. In his second season, he was the only one who played defence on a team with only offensive-minded players. Last year, he was supposed to be an understudy in the AHL, but again proved that he is always ready to beat expectations.<\/p>\n
Weaknesses<\/p>\n
While his defence has improved over the last two seasons, and especially in the AHL where it was his main focus, there are still lapses in judgment. He seems to fall back into the way R\u00f6gle played with a high-risk play in his own end, choosing a difficult outlet pass when there was a safer option available. He also pinches hard sometimes, leaving his partner to face an odd-man rush. Things have gotten a lot better and when it works it\u2019s rarely remembered, however when it doesn\u2019t it becomes the focus of the play.<\/p>\n
Rob Ramage has asked Engstr\u00f6m to work on his gap control over the summer and it has been the focus on his on-ice training with R\u00f6gle and during one-on-one sessions with Bohlin. Engstr\u00f6m has also worked hard during the summer in the gym, not so much to bulk up but in order recover from a season with Laval and improve his stamina for a 72-plus-game season. It shows what the development team thinks he needs to improve upon: his physique and some more technical defence.<\/p>\n
Projection<\/p>\n
Engstr\u00f6m has done what most fans asked him to do. He came over to Laval and he proved he could play. He performed better and better as the season went on and he finished with a very respectable point total at the end of the regular season. Still, he remains at the 16th position in the rankings.<\/p>\n
The lazy comparison is to Mattias Norlinder, but there aren\u2019t many similarities between the two players other than being from Sweden. However, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if the unrealized potential of Norlinder still lingers in many fans\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n
I think the fact that he is waivers-exempt means that he will go down to the AHL at the start of the season, but with David Reinbacher\u2019s limited playing time over the last two seasons I expect Engstr\u00f6m to be the first call-up option in the event of an injury. He can play on both sides, has gotten better in his own end, and hasn\u2019t shown his full potential offensively. Given how well he played in the AHL playoffs, he will be an interesting player to follow at camp, especially considering all the targeted training he has done since the season ended.<\/p>\n
I personally asked him if he was ready for another season in the AHL. I can say that while his voice said \u201cyes,\u201d his eyes had a very different answer as he gears up to surprise people once more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Introduction Adam Engstr\u00f6m had been an offensive-minded defenceman in R\u00f6gle, a player that the team depended on to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-88594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}