Top draft prospect Leo Carlsson, who has started to consistently rank at No. 4 in the 2023 rankings (behind Bedard, Fantilli, and Michkov), started his playoff run on March 16. He finished up the 44-game regular season with 25 points (10G, 15A) and has been playing well in the few opening matches.
Let’s get some details out of the way, first. The Swedish Hockey League, where Carlsson plays as a center, operates playoffs similar to the NHL, as teams face off repeatedly to win a best-of-seven games before advancing to the next round. The only difference is a brief play-in round for the teams that finished 7-10 in the standings to decide the final two spots of the 8-team playoff field.