Red Wings goaltending prospect Filip Larsson won’t be coming back to North America after all. After being loaned to Almtuna in Sweden to start the season, he was expected to come back and battle for playing time in the AHL with Grand Rapids. That isn’t the plan anymore, as the Metal Ligaen in Denmark announced that Detroit has loaned the netminder to Frederikshavn for the remainder of the season.
The 22-year-old played in six games in the Allsvenskan this season, posting a 3.54 GAA along with a .883 SV%, numbers that weren’t going to give him any momentum heading into AHL training camp. And after splitting last season between Grand Rapids and ECHL Toledo, it certainly looks as if he would have been the odd one out, especially with six other goalies under contract.
Viewed as a potential higher-end prospect after a dominant freshman season with Denver of the NCAA in 2018-19, things haven’t gone as well for Larsson since then. But at his age, playing time is critical and he will have to head over to Denmark to get a chance for more game action. He’s expected to report to his new team early next week.