Anton Wahlberg

June 2023 – Wahlberg was selected 39th overall by Buffalo. Pat Quinn

March 2023 – Anton Wahlberg is a late riser in the 2023 draft class. His SHL performances in the back half of the season have been very impressive and I’d wager they will get him drafted in the first round despite being on very few draft lists as recently as January. Wahlberg tilts the ice in his team’s favour in just about every facet of the game apart from playmaking. He’s a sound defensive player who has flashed impressive tenacity and intensity on the fore and backcheck at times this season. He’s a strong skater, especially for his size, and is a very good puck carrier through the neutral zone. In the offensive zone, he remains in constant motion, trying to create and exploit soft ice. He’s a good net-front player and his shot is a scoring threat from medium range. As a whole, Wahlberg has a very enticing set of tools which give him second-line upside, and his foundation of habits and intelligence provide him a good fallback game, so even if his skill doesn’t lift him into a top-six, he would still project as a valuable player to have in a bottom six. Sebastian High

April 2023 – Wahlberg will be an interesting player to follow at the draft, as it was a tale of two seasons for him. In the J20, he was often inefficient and between flashes of brilliance and end-to-end rushes, he was regularly disengaged. In the SHL, however, it all came together. He blended his strong physical game with his plus-level skating and speed to bulldoze through the neutral zone against pro competition and generally tilt the ice in his team’s favour. His defensive game is decent if not amazing, and his goalscoring game is far more refined than his playmaking game is. He is quite raw and will take patience, but the middle-six upside as a rare mold of player will be very enticing on day two of the draft. Sebastian High