Defenseman William Lagesson has made a career out of playing in the middle, shifting his talents between the AHL and NHL.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

        William Lagesson has made a living of coming and going, neither here nor there for long, always adjusting to the present circumstances.

        For many athletes, bouncing back and forth between leagues is an exhausting experience, often prompting an existential crisis that results in a crushing blow to confidence. For Lagesson, it has become a way of life.

        When the Swedish-born defenseman signed with the Red Wings last summer, he was joining his sixth NHL organization in four years. That might be unsettling for many, but the 28-year-old defenseman has never unpacked his suitcase for long.

        It's become standard practice for Lagesson ever since he first left his home in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden, where he loved the outdoors when he wasn't playing hockey or soccer at a high level.

        His grandfather on his father's side had played for the Swedish national team in basketball, but the sport conflicted with the others, so William's summers were spent playing soccer and winters playing hockey.

        "My dad [Rickard Lagesson, owner of the Gothenburg engineering firm Andersson & Hultmark] enjoys fishing, so we did that a lot when I was growing up, too," he said. "He's been taking me since I was a little kid. We have boats close to the ocean and usually go out every summer.

        "It's been a thing just to spend time with him and enjoy his company. We catch micro trout and cod. If we hunt, it's deer. Obviously, we did it a little bit more back in the day, but I still try to find some time with him to do that."

        His dad encouraged him to play but left the coaching to the professionals. As a teen, Lagesson developed his talents in the famed Frölunda hockey program, for the hockey club's U16, U18, and U20 teams while playing dozens and dozens of games at the international level.

        Participating in the World Junior Championship was a life-changing experience. The games put a spotlight on his skills that would see him develop into a mobile, two-way defenseman who was selected in the fourth round (91st overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

        "I think the experience meant a lot," he said. "Just to get to know all the good players back home and in my age group internationally, to measure where I was at the time. I think that really helped me build confidence going forward."

        Following his draft, Lagesson decided to leave home and play in North America.

        "I think it was a good step for me to come over and play here," he said. "Moving up to the SHL [Swedish Hockey League] was a big step. I saw some players do that and they became seventh defensemen where you only play a few shifts per game. You don't get much ice time.

        "I think at that age, it's important to play as much as possible so you can develop still. Maybe I could have stayed in Frölunda and got to play a little bit in the SHL, but I made the decision to go play USHL."

        Dubuque, Iowa, it seems, represented a rather startling culture shock.

        "It was like nothing I'd seen before, but the people there were nice," he said. "Hockey was a big deal in town because they didn't have too much going on. I was still going to high school, but all the hockey guys were treated like stars. So it was fun even though my English was not great that first year."

        Lagesson looked at several different U.S. colleges but ultimately chose UMass-Amherst.

        "I decided to go to UMass because I knew I could have a big role right away," he said. "I didn't want to go to a school where I didn't play much my first year or two, because I knew there was a chance I wasn't going to stay all four years. So I wanted to have a big role right away."

        His two years were productive, even though he found himself in the middle of a rebuild. The Minutemen went 8-24-4 and 5-29-2 in his two seasons at the school, which included a coaching staff change between his freshman and sophomore years.

        "It is what it is," he said. "Being on not-so-good teams was a good learning experience, to see what it's all about. I liked the school. It's where I met my wife, Amanda, whose parents are Swedish but grew up in New Jersey."

        Lagesson signed his first pro contract with Edmonton after two seasons at UMass and the Oilers promptly decided to send him back to Sweden. The club loaned him to Djurgardens in the SHL rather than the AHL's Bakersfield Condors.

        "The team explained they had a lot of 'D' prospects and they were trying to find a solution where it was going to be best for me," he said. "They thought one year in the SHL would allow me to develop my game before heading to the AHL."

        He admits that he had more than a few reservations about playing in Stockholm, where the Djurgardens team is based.

        "I was like 'I don't know' at first because I had my expectations," he said. "Gothenburg, where I'm from, is the second-biggest city in Sweden and there's a rivalry of sorts with Stockholm, but I was wrong. It's a big city, but I lived in a good area, fairly close to the rink, and the city had some of the nicest people I've ever met."

        After a solid year in the SHL, Lagesson returned to North America, making his AHL debut during the 2018-19 season. The move to Bakersfield proved to be a godsend. Not only did Lagesson use the time to sharpen his skills but he was part of a team that tied the second-longest win streak in AHL history with 17 consecutive victories.

        The cast of characters on the Condors included Mitch Callahan, who spent six seasons (2011-2017) in Grand Rapids and helped the Griffins win two Calder Cups. "I was a little scared of him at first, but then I got to know him and he's an awesome guy," Lagesson said.

        "We had a lot of good guys – an unbelievable team that was super-close with a lot of really good players. I remember we didn't talk about the streak because we didn't want to jinx it. We had that momentum where everything clicks, where – even though you're losing by one or two goals going into the third – you know that you're going find a way to win those games."

        Lagesson made his NHL debut during his second season in Bakersfield. "I had a couple of times where I got called up but I didn't get to play before I got sent back down," he said. "My family had come over for the holidays and we were staying in Colorado after an away game there when Edmonton called me up."

        His family quickly arranged to join him in Edmonton, where he made his NHL debut against the New York Rangers on New Year's Eve 2019.

        "I remember we were up 6-1 and they changed goalies and put in Henrik Lundqvist, which was pretty cool to play against him in my first game," said Lagesson, who had been skating with the Hall of Fame netminder during his summers in Sweden since his junior days.

        "They scored four goals in the third period and almost came back. So it was a rollercoaster of a game, but we ended up winning 7-5, so it was a memory for a lifetime. And to have my family there was awesome."

        Lagesson appeared in eight games with Edmonton during the 2019-20 season, playing alongside a couple of other players his age who were already becoming superstars – namely, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. It helped that he had been skating with players of the caliber of Lundqvist, Erik Karlsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Loui Ericsson, and others back home in Sweden for several years.

        "I was nervous at first to skate with those guys, but it's good to see what veteran players are doing every day," he said. "You get to see the routines they do in terms of practice and workouts and all that."

        Just as Lagesson was making inroads to establishing himself as an NHL player, COVID-19 put a halt to everything. With the NHL season on hold, he played for two hockey clubs in Sweden before finishing the 2020-21 season with the Oilers, appearing in 19 games.

        The following year, Lagesson appeared in 30 games with Edmonton. "Everything was going good and then I jammed my wrist," he said. "I got hit and my wrist got super swollen. I couldn't move it and so it was bad timing for it to happen.

        "I was out for two months, maybe two-and-a-half months, and they wanted me to come back because the team wasn't doing very well. It was maybe a bit too early – I had tape from here to here (motions from his wrist to his forearm) and I couldn't move it, couldn't shoot really. I wasn't 100 percent and after that, I was in and out of the lineup."

        In March 2022, the Oilers traded Lagesson along with a conditional second-round pick and a seventh-round pick to Montreal for defenseman Brett Kulak. "I had mixed feelings," he said. "It was the first time I got traded and I was leaving my first organization but I was trying to see the positive, so I was excited about going to a new team and getting a new opportunity there."

        Things didn't quite work out the way he hoped. "I got there and I don't really know what happened, but I only played three games," he said. "I was sitting pretty much in the stands the whole time I was there, and then obviously they didn't want to re-sign me."

        Lagesson signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2022 but never played with the NHL team, spending the entire 2022-23 season with Carolina's AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. He appeared in 65 AHL games, scoring a career-high 10 goals and 32 points.

        "I remember going down there [to Carolina] and it felt like they already had their minds made up with the team," he said. "They had a good 'D' corps, so I spent the whole season in Chicago. I played a lot of minutes, which I needed because I had spent a lot of games in the stands the past few years. It felt good to get back on the ice and play a lot again."

        Nevertheless, Lagesson opted to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. He was assigned to the AHL's Toronto Marlins to start the 2023-24 campaign, but an injury to Jake McCabe opened the door for his return to the NHL.

        He quickly established himself as a solid, third-pair option for Toronto, where he appeared in 30 games. Like in Edmonton, he flourished in a lineup filled with superstars: Austin Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares.

        Playing in a city where hockey is a most serious business, Lagesson contends he felt little pressure.

        "I felt like I had a nothing-to-lose mindset," he said. "I knew the team needed some energy, someone who plays tough, so I went up there and I knew the role that was needed for the team. It was a great team; those guys are a lot of fun to be around. I got to play quite a bit, got to play some good minutes, including the PK [penalty kill]."

        For Lagesson, the best part was that his dad got included in the Leafs' annual fathers' trip. After a 4-0 victory in Nashville, the dads headed to Long Island, where his father had been a foreign exchange student many years earlier.

        "It was kind of full circle for him, so it was a great experience," Lagesson said. "It was fun to see him enjoy himself. He had the best time. Toronto spoiled them with dinners, nice hotels, and all that. It was a really fun time."

        Unfortunately for Lagesson, the good times did not last. The Maple Leafs put him on waivers ahead of the NHL trade deadline to free up cap space. He was claimed by Anaheim and finished the season with the Ducks, going scoreless in 10 games. He is still in pursuit of his first NHL goal after playing in 100 games at the top level.

        Anxious for another new start, Lagesson was excited to sign with the Red Wings on the first day of free agency this past summer. "My agent called and said we have a deal with Detroit but we have to act quick. So we took the deal and here I am."

        He thinks Grand Rapids is an ideal fit for Amanda, who studied journalism at UMass-Amherst, and their son, Loui, and the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever they call Ducky.

        "It doesn't matter if I've played bad or anything like that," he said. "I just go home and I see them and they're as happy as ever to see me. It kinda takes your mind away from hockey, which is something you need sometimes."

        Becoming a father is better than he could have ever imagined.

        "It's been amazing," Lagesson said. "Just to see him grow and take step by step. All that's been unbelievable. He's changed our lives. You see what life is about, I guess. He just brings so much joy to me and my wife, so it's been great."

        Loui, who will be two years old in February, is just starting to talk.

        "My wife grew up in New Jersey, so she speaks almost all English with him," he said. "I try to mix in some Swedish here and there. So he's speaking some words in English and some words in Swedish, but it's mostly English."

        On the ice, Lagesson has wasted no time in settling into a leadership role as an alternate captain for the Griffins.

        "When I'm playing my best, I'm moving pucks quick, making quick decisions, playing hard and physical, making it tough for the other team's top guys to create offense or get to the net," he said. "We've been winning a lot of games in the beginning here, so we're off to a good start."

        Besides an NHL goal, Lagesson is in hot pursuit of his first pro championship.

        "A lot of good things are happening," he said. "I like winning, so you do whatever takes to help the team. I would love to win a championship."