NHL Blogging: The One That Got Away

During the playoffs last year, the buzz was oviously on the ice as Big Red rolled to another championship. But off the ice, it was all about this Swedish kid named Brunstrom. A European prospect in the rare position of being able to choose his own destiny. He'd committed to Vancouver but when they changed management, he decided to shop around a bit and seek another suitor. Eventually, he narrowed his choices down to Detroit and Dallas.

The Wings feted him during the playoffs. Bringing him in to watch some games and doing the whole wining and dining thing. He seemed like a natural fit. The Wings are loaded down with Europeans and they've got enough Swedes to be the junior club for their national team. And you could slot him in for an eventual spot alongside Zetterberg and Franzen if he'd panned out or maybe Datsyuk and Holmstrom. Or maybe with Leino and, well, you get the picture. He'd be yet another piece in the excellent team that Detroit has built, in a good system that knows how to treat its players, and in a locker-room with plenty of his countrymen.

But, alas, it was not to be as he opted for Dallas instead.

Ah well, it would have been hard for him to crack the roster. The Wings aren't just loaded, they're also cap straped. They've already had to make some tough choices about who to keep and who to send down to the minors because their payroll doesn't give them much room to manuever. Brunstrom would have been another good prospect but the Wings are loaded down with good prospects and better players.

Still, I wonder whatever happened to him.

Ah.

Dammit.