A one-day callup to the NHL gave Red Wings prospect William Wallinder a taste of what potentially lies ahead.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

        William Wallinder came to the Red Wings organization via Solleftea, Sweden, a quiet municipality on his nation's High Coast, where nature preserves, rivers and lakes, and abundant forests surrounded him.

        Most significantly, Solleftea is less than 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) from Ornskoldsvik, home to MoDo, the professional ice hockey club that has produced more than its share of NHL players over the years.

        Hall of Fame center Peter Forsberg and long-time Vancouver Canucks winger Markus Naslund were MoDo's first stars, but the list of NHL products who followed the pair of 1991 NHL Draftees is long: Niklas Sundstrom, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Victor Hedman, and William Nylander, among many others.

        O-vik, as it's often called, is a six-hour drive north of Stockholm. While there's a big paper mill in town where seemingly everybody and their brother work, the place is best known for MoDo, which pumps out hockey players like pulp from Mo och Domsjö AB, the giant paper company for which the team is named.

        Wallinder, who spent his teen years in the MoDo program, began developing his skills in Ornskoldsvik. There, he started showing the raw talent that gained the attention of the Red Wings, who selected him in the second round (32nd overall pick) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

        The youngest of five kids, Wallinder had learned from his elders. Two older brothers had played the sport, and their father had also played, getting stuck in the goalie net when his skating skills were lacking.

        Wallinder, on the other hand, excelled on his skates, becoming a technically skilled puck-carrier at a reasonably young age that often saw him leading his team up the ice. It was not his skating skills, however, that led him to favor playing the blue line.

       "Before I turned 10, I used to play up sometimes, but mostly I played defense," said Wallinder, now 22. "I think I played 'D' because I could play more. We used to have four defensemen, so it meant getting more ice time."

        He was well aware of MoDo's history as a hockey factory. Both Naslund and Forsberg joined MoDo's management team after finishing their playing careers. Wallinder recalls hanging out at Naslund's home. He played hockey with Naslund's son as well as the son of defenseman Mattias Timander, one of seven MoDo players to have his number retired.

        Wallinder's dream of playing in the NHL had formed some time earlier. As a boy, one of his favorite players was Niklas Kronwall, the former Red Wings defenseman from whom he would seek guidance and instruction years later.

        "I liked his physical play," Wallinder said. "I tried to do similar hits when I was younger. I was pretty good at it but grew out of it." When you are out of position too often, you quickly learn the risk outweighs the reward.

        Getting drafted by the Red Wings was a thrill he will never forget. "It was a fun experience," he says, hesitating over his choice of words. "I got really excited. I didn't see that coming. I didn't know that they were going to pick me."

        Wallinder said he had a couple of conversations with renowned talent evaluator Hakan Andersson, who serves as director of European scouting for the Red Wings. Still, he had been talking to numerous people during the months leading up to the 2020 draft.

        "I talked to almost every team, so I wasn't sure what would happen," he said. "I was really happy when they picked me. I was really happy to join a team with a lot of Swedish players. It's easier to talk about stuff outside of the rink, and we all know each other since we played each other when we were younger.

        "It feels more like home, I would say."

        Wallinder played one more year with MoDo following the draft then graduated to the SHL, Sweden's top league, where he played for Rögle BK – the same organization that had recruited future Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider a year earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic.

        For his first season in the SHL, Wallinder was joined by 17-year-old Marco Kasper, the Red Wings' first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

        Under the direction of Canadian twin brothers Chris and Cam Abbott, Rögle BK finished first in the 2021-22 standings with a record of 32-11-7-2. With Chris as the club's general manager and Cam as its head coach, Rögle BK provided the perfect training ground for Detroit's young prospects.

        "It was good for me to be playing at a higher level. And with the Abbotts as the coach and the GM, I think they were really good for me. They showed me how to play and how to be a pro. It's a tough league. Playing a lot of minutes was a good step before coming over here."

        Wallinder said staying in Sweden for two seasons with Rögle BK allowed him to strengthen his defensive play.

        "When I played in juniors, I was cheating for offense," he said. "It was kinda like the ice was almost tilting too much. But it's different now. I feel like I take more responsibility to play defense. I think that's the biggest change in my game."

        Two springs ago, the Red Wings brought Wallinder to Grand Rapids to get a taste of North American hockey. He saw action in one regular-season game with the Griffins toward the end of the 2022-23 season.

        "I think it was good for me to see how it is, to see what it's like here," he said. "Unfortunately, I got injured. I got injured in practice after the first game, which made the rest of the season kinda boring, but it was still good to be here and get to know a few people."

        In his rookie season with the Griffins a year ago, Wallinder appeared in 65 regular-season games, recording three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. He saw action in nine postseason contests, getting a goal and two assists.

        He concedes that getting accustomed to playing in the smaller rinks in North America was a big adjustment.

         "It probably took about 20 games to get used to it," he said. "The physical game is more intense here, and you just need to be a lot quicker. You can't hold onto the puck, and you've got to make plays fast.

        "In Sweden, it's different. You can have a lot more patience and a lot more puck possession. You can keep the puck for minutes if you want. In Sweden, you have so much more room to skate. So here, there was a lot of stuff to learn, like how to play a different style, but now I feel comfortable."

        Wallinder found an ally in fellow Swede Albert Johansson, who recently fortified his position on Detroit's blue line after spending two full seasons in Grand Rapids. "I used to hang out with Albert a lot," he said. "He's doing well in Detroit now. I still talk to him a couple times a week. I've been watching the games, and he's been playing really well."

        He admits that he enjoys watching the Red Wings more for enjoyment than with a critical eye or anything analytical.

        "If you're watching and see something good, you might pick it up, but I'm mostly watching for fun," he said. "It's way easier to watch from the stands. When I've been injured and watching from up top, the game looks so slow. It looks so easy, like you can make any play you want, but it's way different when you're out there."

        Wallinder feels he has developed good chemistry with Antti Tuomisto, another second-rounder who was chosen with the 35th overall pick in the draft a year earlier. The two defensemen have frequently been paired together in Grand Rapids.

        "Our playing style is not the same, but it feels like we know how the other person thinks," he said. "Even though we don't play similar in style, we know where each other will be, so the chemistry is good. We play pretty good together."

        He takes encouragement that Johansson and Simon Edvinsson played together in Grand Rapids and are both now mainstays in the NHL. He would welcome the chance to follow a similar path with his Finnish playing partner.

        "Yeah, that would be awesome," he said. "If that happens, that would be great."

        For now, Wallinder is doing his best to provide strong defensive play on a consistent basis.

        "When I'm playing well, I'm moving my feet, using my speed," he said. "I don't want to overdo anything. Just move the puck. Don't try to do too much. That, I would say, is when I play my best. So it's important to keep moving my feet."

        He also knows getting stronger to take full advantage of his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame is essential. He realizes that he will never be confused for the second coming of Kronwall, but he strives to become more of a shutdown defender.

        "I still need to get stronger," he said. "I feel like I'm more physical now. I don't kill people out there, but I'm getting way better at stopping plays. You don't have to run over guys to win the battle. I feel like I'm getting there."

        Meanwhile, Wallinder has seen a boost in his offensive production this season. Through his first 38 games this year, he had already matched his point total from his rookie season, perhaps a nod to his increased power-play time and confidence level.

        "I don't think about points," he said. "My goal is to keep improving every aspect of my game and play more consistently. I'm getting more ice time this year, so I'm just trying to focus on the things I need to."

        Wallinder believes playing strong defense will lead to more offensive opportunity.

        "In the beginning, I was cheating for offense," he said. "I might have looked a little flashier than I look now, but I tried to do too much. Now, I'm just trying to play simple and make the right play.

        "I'm having fun. We have a really good team and a lot of good guys, so I'm enjoying it. This season has been like a rollercoaster. We don't score many goals; we just need to get more pucks on the net. We have lots of potential."

        Potential, of course, doesn't win games. It takes real work, and Wallinder would like nothing better than to live up to the potential that the Red Wings saw when the organization selected him with the first pick of the second round after taking Lucas Raymond in the first round.

        Later that same year, Wallinder found himself cut from Sweden's roster for the World Junior Championship, which proved to be a crushing blow to his ego but a mighty motivating force for his play going forward.

       "Getting cut from World Juniors helped me because after that, I started to play well," he said. "I made the team the next time [in August 2022]. I didn't have my best tournament, but it was a fun experience." Still, he won a bronze medal with his countrymen.

        His experience at the World Juniors followed a 2021-22 season in which Wallinder was named the Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year, after he paced all junior SHL players with 19 points (4-15–19) in 47 contests.

        Wallinder feels his transition to the North American game has been relatively smooth. The one thing he misses about Sweden is the food: Swedish pizza, kebabs, and husmanskost, which is a traditional home-cooked Swedish meal. He is, of course, willing to sacrifice a change in diet to realize his dream.

        He got a taste of the NHL lifestyle this season when he was recalled to Detroit a couple of days before Christmas after Edvinsson was placed on injured reserve. Although Wallinder didn't see any game action, it made him hungry for more.

        "It was still cool to go up there and see what it's like," he said. "I was able to skate in warmups and feel what it's like to be in the rink with the fans. I was almost there, but it still felt like a cool experience."

        Even though it was only for a day, getting the chance to walk from the Red Wings' dressing room through the stands and onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena, Wallinder couldn't help but imagine what the future could hold. He knows success doesn't happen overnight.

        "It takes time," he said. "It's a grind, but you've got to work for it. Nothing comes easy."