THEO LINDSTEIN

Defense
6’0/176
Left
Brynas IF/SHL

Related: David Reinbacher

After putting up 7 points in 14 games started the season, with Brynas IF J20 of the J20 Nationell league, Theo Lindstein swiftly earned a promotion to play for their SHL team, where he only has 2 points in 31 games. At the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Lindstein tallied 6 points in 5 games and was one of Sweden’s top players in the tournament. Lindstein is a safe, two-way defenseman, who skates well and has great anticipation skills and Hockey sense. He’s smart, and controlled and is fantastic at transitioning the puck up the ice to his excellent skating ability, and his puck-handling skills. Lindstein is a two-way type who skates well, plays with a great deal of poise and control, and does a good job managing the play in possession, whether that’s leading exits and outlets or patrolling the line and picking his spots to attack. At this point in time, he is more of a defensive-minded blueliner, who has some offensive instincts, but with continued improvements in his game, he has the potential to be a top 4 defenseman at the NHL level. Lindstein was a player who started the year as a mid-first-round pick but now because he has been mostly playing 3rd pair minutes in the SHL and he didn’t make the cut for Team Sweden at the World Juniors, his draft stock will suffer and might fall out of the first round entirely.

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Size/Strength Average
Skating Excellent
Shot/Scoring Good
Puckhandling Good
Physical Play Average
Offensive Play Good
Defensive Play Good
Hockey Sense Great
Competitiveness Good

Strengths

1 Is an Elite Skater with a fluid stride, and his explosiveness is a core aspect of many of his scoring plays
2 Has good defensive positioning, and due to his four-way mobility, can take away scoring chances in transition.
3 Tremendous passer, but is also very good at getting shots through to the net for deflections.

Areas of Improvement

1 Needs to add consistency and fine-tune his play in all zones.
2 On defense, Lindstein could use a bit more muscle.
3 Takes too long to decide what to do with the puck.

Scouting Report

Theo Lindstein is a two-way type who skates well, plays with a great deal of poise and control, and does a good job managing the play in possession and picking his spots to attack.
He’s smart, controlled, and fantastic at setting up plays. Lindstein likes to carry the puck, and his hockey sense is impressive. Lindstein is an effortless skater with a fluid stride, and his explosiveness is the key to many of his scoring plays. He’s also a smart puck-mover who makes a great first pass and has some blue-line poise even though I don’t view him as a power-play type in the NHL. While he tends to accumulate more assists than goals, Lindstein’s shot should not be ignored. Many of his assists are tip-ins or accurate passes to the slot. While being an offensively talented player, Lindstein is also responsible with his positioning. He shifts laterally along the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone, occasionally skating farther in to follow a shot, though he typically stays above the faceoff circles once his team controls play in the zone. He is almost always the first player back in the defensive zone and has good footwork when he needs to transition in reverse. Although he could use a bit more muscle, he is still a more than effective defender in his own zone and holds his own in physical play. Lindstein is a defensive-minded two-way blueliner with a quality point shot and understated offensive instincts. If Lindstein is to be a top 4 defenseman, he needs to add more pace to his transitional play and make quicker decisions with the puck. An NHL comparison for Theo Lindstein is Hampus Lindholm, who is a solid two-way defenseman, who can play top-pair minutes at times, but is more of a second-pair defenseman unless paired with an elite defenseman. With continued improvements to his game, Lindstein has the potential to be a top 4 defenseman in the NHL and is projected to be a late first early second-round pick.

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Skill: Elite Skating, two-way defenseman, with great hockey sense and instincts

NHL Comparable: Hampus Lindholm

NHL Potential: Top 4 Two-way Defenseman

Season	Team	League	GP	G	PTS
2021-22	Brynas J20	J20 Nationell	34	1	4
2022-23	Brynas J20	J20 Nationell	14	2	7
	Sweden U18	Hlinka Gretzky Cup	5	1	6
	Brynas IF	SHL	31	1	2

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