As per usual, Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 31 Thoughts column included several interesting items. This week, there was a tidbit regarding the Calgary Flames and their reported interest in adding free agents from the Swedish professional ranks.
8. A number of NHL teams were in Sweden over the last couple of weeks to scout potential free agents. There are four I know of: defencemen Lawrence Pilut (age 22) and Joel Persson (23); winger Michael Lindqvist (23) and centre Par Lindholm (26). Pilut’s father, Larry, was born in Detroit and played in the NCAA before going to Sweden, where he settled.