Report: Anton Rodin Might Return to Brynäs Following this Season

Canucks prospect Anton Rodin has skill to burn. Though injury prone, Rodin is an excellent skater with plus puck possession skills and we thought he might be poised for a breakout campaign in Chicago this season.

For whatever reason though, Rodin has continued to struggle to adjust to the North American game and has underwhelmed throughout his two seasons with the Chicago Wolves. Well now it appears that Rodin may not remain in the Canucks system for much longer. According to a report from Aftonbladet (a reliable Swedish outlet) the speedy winger is strongly considering returning to Brynäs, his SEL team, upon the expiry of his entry-level contract this summer.

Read on past the jump.

Here’s the key quote from Aftonbladt (having run it through google translate):

The Aftonbladet report also quotes Hans Inge Hammerstrom, who is a european scout for the Canucks in addition to working for Brynäs who says (per google translate), "No decision has been made in that case. Vancouver have their say, but if the [Canucks] does not signal a new contract with him, we are of course interested."

So it sounds like this is far from a foregone conclusion, though the notion of a "verbal agreement" between Anton Rodin and Brynäs would suggest that there might be more to this story than Hammerstrom’s statement lets on.

Anton Rodin is currently skating with the Wolves but has been sidelined for much of this season with a groin injury. This season he produced only 13 points in 39 AHL games as a twenty-two year old, extremely disappointing results for a player with so much observable offensive talent. Should Anton Rodin actually return to the Swedish Elite League, the Canucks would continue to own his rights as a restricted free-agent.

(s/t to Corey Pronman)