We continue our Washington Capitals annual prospect review and forecast series with Oskar Magnusson, forward for AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan league. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page in the top menu or right here.)
VITALS
Magnusson, 20, is a 5’-10” left-handed center/winger from Trelleborg, Sweden. He was selected by the Capitals in the seventh round (#211 overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He remains unsigned by the Capitals.
CAREER SUMMARY
Magnusson represented Sweden at the Under 16, Under 17, and Under 18 levels, most recently playing in the Gretzky Hlinka Cup where he was part of the Bronze Medal winning team. Overall, Magnusson played 13 games with the national Under-18 Team, scoring two goals and four assists for six points.
Magnusson spent his 2019-20 season playing for the Malmo Redhawks, dividing his time between their Swedish Hockey League (SHL) team, their Junior 20 Super Elite team, and their Under 18 team, primarily playing with their Junior 20 team. He played in 38 games at the Junior 20 Super Elite level, scoring 22 goals and recording 26 assists for 58 points overall. Magnusson played in just one game for their Under 18 team but scored a goal and had an assist. He played in 4 games at the SHL.
Magnusson, who turned 20 on January 31, was selected to play for Sweden in the Four Nations tournament in November, and had a good showing. On Sunday, November 14, Sweden played Russia in the final game of the tournament. Russia won the game 5-2 and won the tournament, but Magnusson scored a goal in the game to improve the score to 4-2.
Magnusson was selected for Sweden’s National team back in December for the originally scheduled 2022 World Junior Championship, but the championship was ultimately cancelled due to a Covid outbreak.
Magnusson attended Capitals development camp in September, 2021, his first visit to the Capitals. He spoke about attending the camp, and what he gleaned from the camp. “Experience, mainly. See how they train and what it takes to have a job over there. Lots of experience and it was just a positive experience. They want me to continue working on what I have started to build on. I will try to show that I am really good with the puck when I have it on the stick.”
Magnusson stepped down to the HockeyAllsvenskan league for the 2021-22 season, stating the move would allow him more playing time.
“I thought that this would be good for my development and it has turned out that it has been,” said Magnusson to hockeysverige.se.
As a young player, you need to be able to play in order to develop and establish yourself at the next level. In Oskar Magnusson’s case, it meant leaving his home in Skåne and move to Stockholm. After five years in the Malmö Redhawks organization, Magnusson left the club to sign with AIK instead.
“I think it has been great. I have helped the group, but also started playing my hockey in AIK…I have only positive things to say about the start in AIK.”
Team Sweden announced their preliminary roster for the upcoming (rescheduled) 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, which included Magnusson. The original tournament was canceled back in December due to an outbreak of covid among a number of the teams. The tournament will now be played, in its entirety, from August 9-20, in Edmonton, Alberta.
2021-2022 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Oskar Magnusson during the 2021-2022 season. You can find all of our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.
OCTOBER
Magnusson began the season at left wing on second line for VIK (HockeyAllsvenskan) and got off to a fast start, recording two goals and two assists in his first five games.
Oskar Magnusson 🚨 #AIKHockey #ALLCAPS
🎥 Aftonbladet TV pic.twitter.com/tYVDBVzmEJ— SwehockeyGIFs (@swehockeygifs) September 9, 2021
Magnusson found the back of the net again at the end of September.
Oskar Magnusson (@AIKishockey) tråcklar in sitt första allsvenska mål!#twittpuck #hockeyallsvenskan #sverigesmestunderhållandeliga pic.twitter.com/zvtMDcUuVz
— HockeyAllsvenskan (@hockeyallsvensk) September 30, 2021
Magnusson was selected for the Swedish U20 training camp for the upcoming Four Nations tournament in Ängelholm, where they will meet Russia, the Czech Republic and Finland. The matches are played November 12-14. So far this season, including September, Magnusson has two goals and four assists in 12 games played.
TRENDING: SAME
NOVEMBER
Magnusson was named to Sweden’s Junior Team roster for the training camp prior to the Four-Nation’s Tournament to be played in the middle of November. On Sunday, November 14, Sweden played Russia in the final game of the Four Nations tournament. Russia won the game 5-2 and won the tournament, but Magnusson scored a goal in the game to improve the score to 4-2. Magnusson played in three games in the tournament and scored one goal.
WHAT A FEED! WHAT A FINISH!!
🚨 Oskar Magnusson #SWE
4-2 Russia #FourNations #U20 pic.twitter.com/1vCue438Z4— This is the KHL (@KHLreplays) November 14, 2021
Swedish Hockey news wrote about Magnusson in mid-November: “A step down in the series system does not have to be something negative. In AIK, Magnusson gets more playing time than he got in the SHL and more chances to develop his game. A center that can do most things on the ice. All qualities are good with Magnusson, without for that matter stand out in the form of being super fast, shooting rock hard or offering circus passes with the puck. Wise and very all-round.“
In an interview with HockeySverige.se, Magnusson spoke about his decision to leave the Malmo RedHawks in the SHL for AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan league (a step down). “There was probably no very long dialogue (with Malmö) or anything like that. I felt I needed new adventures and a new team to find new development. I think I made the right decision and I’m happy with the decision I made.”
Magnusson also spoke about attending Capitals development Camp in September, and what he gleaned from the camp. “Experience, mainly. See how they train and what it takes to have a job over there. Lots of experience and it was just a positive experience. They want me to continue working on what I have started to build on. I will try to show that I am really good with the puck when I have it on the stick.”
Magnusson admits a big part of his decision to leave the SHL for the lesser HockeyAllsvenskan league was to play for a previous coach, Anton Blomqvist. Magnusson had Blomqvist as a coach in both Malmö’s J18 and J20 teams. It was also under Blomqvist’s leadership that the talent made his big breakthrough during the 2019-20 season.
“It’s nice to have a little security. I know how he is as a person and as a coach and at the same time he knows how I work on the ice. He gets good qualities out of me on the ice and makes me play my best hockey.”
TRENDING: UP
DECEMBER
On December 8 Magnusson was officially invited to Team Sweden’s Junior team selection camp in advance of this years World Junior Championship. Magnusson was officially named to the 25-man roster shortly thereafter. Mgnusson started on the 4th line for the Swedes in their opening game against the Russians.
Magnusson had no points in the first game against Russia on December 26. He skated 22 shifts for 12:23 of time on ice. He had no official shots but did ring one shot off the post early in the first period.
Oskar Magnussons stolpskott. #JVM #WorldJuniors #AIK #allcaps
🎥 Viaplay https://t.co/NTW7WvDIFT pic.twitter.com/lnKbnfyk8G— SwehockeyGIFs (@swehockeygifs) December 26, 2021
Magnusson was selected as Team Sweden’s best player after the game. The selection is made by the players.
Best players of RUS/SWE as selected by the teams:
Oskar Magnusson (WSH)
Matvei Michkov (2023)— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) December 27, 2021
In the second game on December 27 against Slovakia, Magnusson once again played on the fourth line. He recoded no points and one shot in 9:09 of ice time.
The World Junior Championship was cancelled on December 29 due to COVID.
TRENDING: UP
JANUARY
Magnusson continued his season with AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Second Highest League in Sweden). He played in three of the team’s five games this month, missing the games of January 26 and January 28 due to illness. He scored a first period goal for AIK in a 2-1 loss on January 19 and scored a goal in a 3-1 loss on January 22.
Oskar Magnusson 🚨 #Hockeyallsvenskan #AIK #ALLCAPS
🎥C More pic.twitter.com/0eC5dq77VE— SwehockeyGIFs (@swehockeygifs) January 19, 2022
He was on the third line for two games but promoted to the second line for the game on January 22. Thus, he had two goals in January.
Oskar Magnusson 🚨 #Hockeyallsvenskan #AIK #ALLCAPS
🎥 C More pic.twitter.com/tvlzatPxkU— SwehockeyGIFs (@swehockeygifs) January 22, 2022
His overall statistics are four goals and four assists in 24 games.
TRENDING: UP
FEBRUARY
Magnusson continued his season with AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Second Highest League in Sweden). He played in eleven games during the month of February and scored no goals but earned two assists.
He earned an assist for the team’s third goal on February 15, scored by Daniel Torgersson that tied the game at 3-3. AIK won 4-3 in Overtime against Tingsryd. He earned an assist on the team’s first goal against IF Bjorkloven that Daniel Torgersson scored in a game they won 6-1. His overall statistics are four goals and six assists in 35 games.
TRENDING: SAME
MARCH
Magnusson continued his season with AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Second Highest League in Sweden). He played in six regular season games during the month of March and scored one goal.
Magnusson scored a goal against Vasterviks IK on March 4, which put his team up 2-1 at the time. They were unable to hold the lead and lost 4-2.
His overall regular season statistics are five goals and six assists in 35 games. He played in two playoff qualifying games and did not have any goals or assists. Since his team lost their two playoff qualifying games, his season is now over. Magnusson generally played at left wing on the third line.
TRENDING: SAME
APRIL
Magnusson’s season ended in March. He continued his season with AIK in the Hockey Allsvenskan (Second Highest League in Sweden). He played in six regular season games during the month of March and scored one goal.
Magnusson scored a goal against Vasterviks IK on March 4, which put his team up 2-1 at the time. They were unable to hold the lead and lost 4-2.
His overall regular season statistics are five goals and six assists in 35 games. He played in two playoff qualifying games and did not have any goals or assists. Since his team lost their two playoff qualifying games, his season is now over. Magnusson generally played at left wing on the third line.
TRENDING: SAME
PLAYER FORECAST
Magnusson has been our most challenging player to track and assess. His decision to step down a league level this past season made some sense, but in the end, left many questions regarding his resolve to make it the next level. He was solid in the 11 games of his we watched this season.
There has been no official word as to where Magnusson will play next season. He will participate in the 2022 World Junior Championship this August, which should give us a better feel for his development, and where he projected to go.
By Jon Sorensen
They traded their first rounder for a 7th rounder…..if Im reading that corrrectly adn to Pitt…..is just stupid! And for a 5′ 10 D-man who is still not signed and looks to be averge at best and way undersized for the NHL today.
They traded down for Pittsburgh’s first round pick, and received a 7th for doing so. I will clarify the text.
Jon:
If I’m reading my history correctly, they traded a 2021 7th pick for the 2020 7th pick used to pick Magnusson. So 7th pick for 7th pick, just a year apart. Meh… Unless Magnusson turns out to be a superstar sleeper, then it will be one of the best trades in franchise history (I’m not holding my breath on that happening, but it would be nice… )