Olof Lindbom

June 2023 – Lindbom, soon-to-be 23 year old, is entering the final year of his current contract with New York. Taken with the 39th pick of the 2018 draft to the surprise of many, it has been a bit of a bumpy road for the netminder post-draft.  The slightly undersized goalie, checking in at 6-2, appeared in 28 games with ECHL Jacksonville this past season, posting a 17-10-1 record, a 3.01 GAA and an .890 save percentage. Lindbom will need a couple of breaks to go his way this upcoming season if he has any hope of remaining in the Rangers’ future plans. On the team’s AHL club, veteran Louis Domingue is  under contract for the 2023-24 season and currently shares the crease with Lindbom’s fellow prospect, Dylan Garand. The Swede will need to play lights out in 2023-24 or risk finding himself with nothing but European options for 2024-25.  Brendan Ferry

August 2022 — Lindbom, the recently-turned 22 year old, will be a member of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack this upcoming season, after the 2018 draftee has played each of his post-draft seasons in his native Sweden, most recently with Kristianstads IK in Sweden’s second tier league, Hockey Allsvenskan. Last season, he posted a 3.22 GAA along with a .900 save percentage in 27 games played for Kristianstads.  Lindbom, who was the 39th overall pick in 2018, was a very shocking pick to most Rangers fans at the time.  The team had just begun their rebuild after the trade deadline sell-off, which followed the infamous “letter” that was sent out by Rangers management, signifying the beginning of their rebuilding process. After dealing away some of the team’s best players, there were many holes to fill in the 2018 draft.  Of course, the team did snag recently-returned-from-exile Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist prior to selecting Lindbom, but nevertheless, it was a surprise at the time.  Starting this Fall, Rangers goalie guru, Benoit Allaire, and the rest of the NYR coaching staff will finally be able to see if they can turn Lindbom into an NHL-caliber goalie. With the big club signing veteran netminder Jaroslav Halak this summer, Lindbom should have at least one full year of AHL time to see if he can justify the team’s faith in him. Brendan Ferry

March 2020 – As a 19-year-old, the Rangers’ second-round draft-pick from 2018 played somewhat of a 1B role for Mora of the Allsvenskan league in Sweden. On a middle-of-the-pack team, Lindbom posted sub-par numbers, however, not all that much worse than the team’s 22-year-old starter Isak Wallin. The next step for him will be to take on a larger role with the team next year and be the catalyst to get them into Allsvenskan playoffs. He remains a long-term project with Shesterkin-like upside, however, that is undoubtedly at least four years away. Brayden Olafson

August 2019 – The 39th overall draft-pick from the 2018 NHL draft struggled with relatively severe concussion symptoms over the course of his D+1 campaign. Playing in only eight contests over the course of thee year with the SuperElit’s Djurgardens, Lindbom’s future has become even more clouded with uncertainty than the day he was drafted by the Rangers. He’ll begin the 2019-20 campaign on Mora IK’s Allsvenskan roster and likely remain overseas while the Rangers’ organization continues to put a strong focus on developing their intra-continental goaltending prospects. Brayden Olafson

June 2018 – The Rangers add yet another goalie to their depth chart with Lindbom. The Swedish goaltender was named the best at his position at the World U18s where the Swedes defeated the Czech Republic for bronze. Brayden Olafson