Mattias Norlinder will not have it easy if he returns to Sweden...

Norlinder then suffered a lower-body injury that the Habs organization labeled as minor. However, the injury has kept him out since last month.

Barring a major surprise, Mattias Norlinder will not start the season with the Montreal Canadiens. He will most likely return to his team in Europe, Frolunda in the Swedish first division.

The Habs' third pick in 2018 was seen as a key piece of the Swedish team before the season started. He was seen driving the first wave of the power play and getting a lot of minutes on the ice.

However, the youngster won't have everything cooked up in his mouth, because there is another young prodigy who is playing excellent hockey these days. Simon Edvinsson, does that ring a bell?

He was the sixth pick in the last NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings. The 6 feet 4 inches tall, 198 pounds colossus has accumulated 7 points in 12 games since the beginning of the 2021-2022 campaign. Frolunda seems to like the young Wings' back end a lot, so it would be surprising if Norlinder arrived in Sweden and snatched playing time from the others.

A quick reminder, Edvinsson is a very versatile defenseman, he can be used in all sorts of ways, which is not the case with Norlinder. Maybe the organization will be more comfortable letting Edvinsson get a lot of ice time, considering that Norlinder is a pure offensive defenseman. To be continued...

The Habs prospect will clearly have to fight for every minute he gets on the ice with Simon Edvinsson around.