Sharks loan former first-round pick back to SHL

The Sharks have decided that the time isn’t right for prospect Filip Bystedt to make his North American debut. Instead, CapFriendly recently reported that San Jose has loaned the center back to SHL Linköping for the upcoming season.

The 19-year-old was the 27th pick back in 2022 after a strong showing in Sweden’s junior level where he recorded 16 goals and 33 assists in 40 regular season games while adding ten points in eight playoff contests.  He also got into 15 games with Linköping at the top level in his draft year and while he didn’t produce much (one goal and one assist), he showed enough offensive promise at the junior level to warrant a first-round selection.

Last season, Bystedt was a regular at the SHL level, suiting up in 45 of their 52 games.  While he didn’t light it up as he did in junior, he still finished seventh on the team in scoring, tallying seven goals with 13 helpers while logging nearly 13 minutes a night.  Once the regular season ended, Bystedt was then sent down to the junior level where he picked up six points in four games to end his year on a high note.  Meanwhile, he was quite productive at the World Juniors, finishing tied for sixth in tournament scoring with four goals and six assists in seven games although they came up short in the medal round, finishing fourth.  That helped earn him his entry-level deal back in June.

While still junior-eligible, Bystedt was eligible to go to the AHL this coming season since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL.  However, it appears that San Jose feels he’d be best served with another year in Sweden’s top division over suiting up with AHL Barracuda.  This means that his contract will slide for the 2023-24 campaign and will still have three years remaining on it at this point next summer.