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<\/a><\/p>\nThe Canucks originally selected Fernstr\u00f6m, who had made the jump to the highest level of Swedish professional hockey earlier that season, with the No. 93 pick of the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n
Former Penguins assistant GM Patrick Allvin, who became the NHL\u2019s first<\/a> Swedish general manager when Jim Rutherford brought him to Vancouver in 2022, was the one who selected Fernstr\u00f6m with the Canucks\u2019 No. 93 pick.<\/p>\n Fernstr\u00f6m had recently been called up from the junior Swedish league to join the adults in the SHL, where he played nine total games as a 17-year-old. He had also led Sweden in production at the U18 Worlds with eight points in seven games during the 2024 tournament.<\/p>\n The reason the forward slipped as low as the third round despite those positive signs in his development may have been at least in part due to concerns about his speed.<\/p>\n From the EliteProspects 2024 NHL Draft Guide<\/a>: \u201cFernstr\u00f6m reads the play away from the puck, anticipates where the next pass will come, and he gets there just as his puck-carrying teammates turn to execute the play. His shot may not be the most powerful, but he gets it off from the right positions and angles to score.\u201d<\/p>\n From Elite Prospects\u2019 J.D. Burke (h\/t Vancouver is Awesome<\/a>): \u201cHe just isn\u2019t quick enough. He can\u2019t keep up with the game physically and he\u2019s not anticipating the play in a way that covers for that deficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n After the 2024 draft, Fernstr\u00f6m split the season between the junior league and the SHL before he was traded to the Penguins as part of the return from the Feb. 1 deal that sent Marcus Pettersson and Drew O\u2019Connor to Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n Penguins analyst Jesse Marshall<\/a>, who compiled a highlight reel for Fernstr\u00f6m after the trade, noted at the time that skating was still a concern for the forward but that he had an \u201cability to find space to use his versatile and lethal shot.\u201d<\/p>\n Dubas said after the trade that the Penguins had originally had Fernstr\u00f6m highly ranked in the 2024 draft, per Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Penguins GM spoke a little bit more about his thoughts on Fernstr\u00f6m after the February trade, per Crechiolo:<\/p>\n \u201cI think the thing that stood out in the draft is that when we interviewed him, he was known as an offensive, scoring winger. And we interviewed him and it was very clear to us that his mindset was in the right spot. His goal for this year was to earn a spot in the SHL and, knowing that role wasn\u2019t going to be as a top-two-line scorer. And when we watched him this year for Orebro there, he was highly competitive.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an 18-year-old, he\u2019s in their lineup every night. He\u2019s not playing in the top two lines. He\u2019s playing on the third or fourth line and on the second power play. But it\u2019s what he\u2019s doing in the games competitive. He\u2019s chipped in. For an 18-year-old, he\u2019s got nearly 10 points.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he\u2019s been a very good player for the national team in the past. All of these players that you draft have been mostly top-line players or top-pair defensemen. Very rarely are you drafting a player from junior who was a lower-in-the-lineup guy unless it\u2019s late in the draft and you think that there\u2019s something that can pop. It\u2019s going to be how they adapt when they\u2019re lower in the lineup. Do they bring other elements when they\u2019re not scoring and they\u2019re not on the first-unit power play? And in his case, that\u2019s what he\u2019s continued to show.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we interviewed him at the draft, which was only seven or eight months ago now, he showed an understanding of what the development path was going to be like and what he was going to have to put into it, and that\u2019s what impressed us then. And then as we track all of these guys \u2013 Andy Saucier\u2019s department does this at an elite level \u2013 he is executing upon everything that he said, which is for us an important developmental attribute.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernstr\u00f6m was named SHL Rookie of the Year this spring after leading all first-year players in the Swedish league with eight goals, nine assists and 17 points in 48 games.<\/p>\n Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos recently weighed in on Fernstr\u00f6m\u2019s first time playing most of a season in the SHL, per NHL.com\u2019s Brandon Karafilis<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the team didn\u2019t do really well, they felt like he kept getting better and better. To be put with a big team and be able to produce, I think it was a really good season for him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could be a real offensive threat, like very dynamic, and he\u2019s got a really wicked shot. So, if he keeps building that and his ability to get pucks off the wall and attack the middle of the ice, he\u2019s got a lot of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n The Penguins offered Fernstr\u00f6m a vote of confidence by signing the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n Fernstr\u00f6m also made his debut in black and gold as one of the 52 prospects invited<\/a> to Penguins development camp this summer.<\/p>\n The franchise will now hope to see Fernstr\u00f6m take another step forward in his development as he prepares to begin another season with \u00d6bero HK.<\/p>\n Fernstr\u00f6m said during development camp that he had decided to return to the SHL for another campaign, while Kostopoulos confirmed the Penguins approved of the plan, Matt Vensel<\/a> reported for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in July.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good setup \u2014 a good coaching staff and a good opportunity for him to keep building on the ice time and the role,\u201d Kostopoulos said about Fernstr\u00f6m returning to \u00d6bero next season, per Vensel. \u201cWe think it\u2019s a good spot for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernstr\u00f6m could get more playing time at both even strength and on the power play as he heads into his first full season in the SHL. Improving his speed while taking on an increasingly significant role against high-level competition in Sweden could potentially put him on track for a look at Penguins training camp in 2026.<\/p>\n