When the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesper Sellgren to a three-year entry-level contract in 2019, they likely expected him to be an important contributor for the Charlotte Checkers. After all, the young defenseman had just debuted for the Checkers in the Calder Cup playoffs and would help them secure a league championship soon after.
Unfortunately, Sellgren hasn’t played a single game for the organization since that 2019 AHL playoff run. Last season he was loaned back to the SHL where he recorded 21 points in 47 games. That was likely a decision made to get him more playing time and opportunity since the Checkers already had names like Jake Bean eating up ice time in the minor leagues. Today, Sellgren has been loaned to the SHL once again, this time to Frolunda, for the 2020-21 season (with the release from Sweden indicating it will be for the entire season).
That means two of his three contracted years will already be gone before Sellgren gets back into the Carolina organization. The deal is scheduled to expire in 2022, at which point he will become a restricted free agent. The sixth-round pick from 2018 is quite an interesting prospect, but it’s hard to know exactly how his future in North America will play out without more experience on this side of the pond.
Sellgren? SOLDgren! Another wasted draft pick by CAR…
A sixth-rounder that didn’t pan out…a waste, but not nearly as bad as originally thought.