Ehn-Ergizing

Swedish center Christoffer Ehn is exciting Red Wings fans with his potential.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

When the Red Wings opened training camp this past fall, scouts had their eyes on a number of prospects who were projected as possible NHL roster players.

If Christoffer Ehn wasn’t on their radar, he probably should have been.

The former fourth-round draft pick (106th overall in 2014) proved to be positively Ehn-ticing. Although he was viewed as largely unknown and untested, he came to North America with a wealth of experience, having played the past three seasons for one of the top pro teams in Sweden.

Based in the city of Gothenburg, the Frölunda Hockey Club has not only produced a startling number of top prospects for the NHL but also has served as a finishing school of sorts, polishing the potential of future stars from two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson to Buffalo Sabres rookie Rasmus Dahlin.

Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, is just one of the many talented young players whom Ehn has called a teammate during the past three years. Others include Lias Andersson, a first-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2017 draft; Kristian Vesalainen, a first-round selection of the Winnipeg Jets in the same draft; and Carl Grundstrom, a second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016.

The Frölunda list also includes Ehn’s best friends: Anaheim Ducks prospect Jacob Larsson, who has played for the San Diego Gulls this season, and Dallas Stars prospect John Nyberg, currently a member of the AHL’s Texas Stars.

“The good part of having so many talented young guys at the same time is that everybody is competing for a spot on the team,” Ehn said. “We’re all pushing each other and I think that helped me a lot. Whether it was working out in the gym or staying out extra on the ice, it’s easy when you have a bunch of guys doing the same thing.”

Hopefully, they all rub off on each other. Ehn and Dahlin both claim roots in Lidköping, the town where Ehn’s father serves as a police officer. Although Dahlin is four years younger, Ehn has known him for several years and even drove the puck prodigy to practice for a couple of years.

“He’s such an exceptional talent,” Ehn said. “So many things that he does come so naturally to him. But I have to say that he is a really humble guy. I know there’s a lot of talk about him, but it’s nothing that he pays attention to.

“He has tremendous skill, but his biggest talent is how hard he works. He’s the last guy off the ice every day. He’s playing well already, but it’s hard to imagine how good he will be once his body catches up. He’s going to be something special, for sure.”

Ehn believes his time in Sweden has served him well.

“Sweden has a great developmental league,” he said. “When you don’t play as many games as you do here, you have more time to practice. Frölunda sets the bar for how you need to practice, both on and off the ice. I’m really happy I stayed an extra year there. I think I’ve really grown into myself as a player.”

Still only 22 years old, Ehn feels Frölunda helped put him on a path to play professionally at the highest level in North America.

“I wanted to keep getting stronger, bigger and faster – all those things that would help me build my confidence here,” he said. “I didn’t want to come here and then find things weren’t going right. I felt all my years were good, but especially the last one.”

Ehn was pushed to excel by Frölunda head coach Roger Rönnberg, who made him earn every second of his ice time. Rönnberg is a tough coach who demands a lot of his players.

“He hasn’t given me an easy time, but he’s been crucial to my development,” Ehn said. “I learned the hard way. Some nights I was in and out of the lineup. Some days I would play with the junior team at 12 o’clock, then dress for the senior team at night and only play two minutes.

“He always told me, ‘I can’t give you confidence. That’s something you have to find on your own.’ He was a hard coach, but it was what I needed to take the steps in my career. You don’t get things for free. You have to work for it. In that way, he helped me a lot.”

Ehn worked hard on his defensive play, seeing it as the easiest way to work his way into the lineup. “In Sweden, you have to get coaches to trust you to get ice time when you move up to the senior league, so it’s about being responsible, being good defensively and being strong on the penalty kill,” he said. “I think the defensive side of the game fits me.”

His offensive production increased each season. Last year, Ehn tallied seven goals and 10 assists in 50 games. “During my last year in Sweden, I felt like I not only played defense but was also able to contribute with offense. I’m starting to learn where the offense comes from.”

Ehn also benefitted from international play. He has twice represented Sweden in the World Junior Championship. “It’s always fun to compete against the best guys your age,” he said. “When you play against (Jack) Eichel and (Connor) McDavid, it gives you a boost (of confidence), but it also shows that you have to get better.”

His teammates with Frölunda this past season included two former Griffins: defenseman Adam Almquist (2011-14) and forward Jan Mursak (2008-13), both members of Grand Rapids’ 2013 Calder Cup champion club.

“Both of them talked about how they had a really good time here and how they loved the city,” Ehn said. “They’re both really good guys, and it’s unfortunate that they weren’t really able to break into the Red Wings. I talked to them (about Grand Rapids and the AHL), so I knew how to prepare and what to expect.”

Ehn had planned to join the Griffins at the end of last season after Frölunda was eliminated from the playoffs, but mononucleosis ended those plans.

“I felt like I was battling a cold during the playoffs and I wasn’t feeling very good between games, but I kept playing and working hard,” he said. “I felt awful on the plane during the flight here and when I arrived, I had blood work done – 36 hours later, I was flying back home.”

Ehn was down for six weeks, losing 13 pounds in the process. “You’ve got to be careful because if you try to come back early, the mono will come back and it will take longer, so I was careful. I felt exhausted after practice the first couple of weeks, so it was a long way to come back, but I had a good summer and felt ready for camp.”

He opened eyes during the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, then got stronger during the Red Wings’ training camp. A solid performance during Detroit’s preseason earned him a spot on the team’s opening night roster.

“To people in North America, I am still a rookie, but in my head I’m a fourth-year pro,” Ehn said. “I have played more than 200 games in Sweden. Of course, there’s the difference with the ice surface here, playing more often here and a bunch of other new stuff to pick up, but I don’t see myself as a rookie.”

If he’s honest, Ehn knew that making the team out of camp was a long shot, so all he wanted to do was give it his best.

“My main goal was to give myself a chance,” he said. “I didn’t expect to start in the NHL. I had two years on my contract and in my head I hoped I would get a chance to play in Detroit someday during that time.”

“Like I always do, I went all out. I just wanted to work hard, do all the right things, listen to the coaches and try to learn the system as fast as I could. I thought I was playing pretty good, so I felt like I had a shot as the camp moved on.”

Needless to say, he was overjoyed when he got the news that he had made the team. The Red Wings flew his parents, Lars and Ulrica, and his younger sister, Rebecca, to Detroit so they could see his first game.

“It was amazing to start the season in Detroit and get a taste of what it is like,” he said. “I was pretty pumped. You want to have that edge, but it was hard to calm down. In my case, it might have been better to be overexcited because it kept my feet moving. I might have been overworking but maybe that’s better than not working at all.”

Ehn felt more comfortable the more he played. He ended up playing nine games with the Red Wings, earning one assist, before he was sent to Grand Rapids. “I think I showed that I can play at that level if I play at the best of my ability, but there are so many small details that I still need to improve,” he said.

While he works to get stronger on draws and further develop the responsibilities of the center position, he also knows that he has to contribute more offensively.

“It’s good to be strong defensively, but at the same time, you can’t forget that you have to be able to chip in with offense and create scoring chances and get a goal every other game or two. I need to work on my overall game.

“I know that I’m not going to become this crazy playmaker, so I’m going to play to my strengths. I’m going to skate a lot, play solid defensively and try to take advantage of that to create offense where I can.

“As the season moves on, I’m hoping I will figure out where to skate, which spots to be in. Obviously we play a different system in Sweden and the ice surface is smaller here, but I’ve got to find a way to put up points. I think I’m off to a pretty good start, but I need to keep working hard.

“I came here with a blank page. Now this is my shot. Let’s go out and do something.”