There's more to the Dion Phaneuf trade than meets the eye, in that the Leafs added an above average prospect and a second round pick (which is significant). Tobias Lindberg, a former fourth round pick of the Senators in the 2013 NHL Draft, will join an already strong Marlies team -- and might even get some spot time with the Leafs -- for what should be a deep playoff run.
And the Leafs are familiar with Lindberg. Last season, as an import rookie in the OHL, Lindberg played 88 games (regular season and playoffs) under now-Leafs-assistant-coach DJ Smith, registering 97 points on route to an OHL Championship and Memorial Cup.
Prior to joining the Generals, Lindberg spent the majority of the two previous seasons with Djugardens' (of the SHL) U20 program where he scored at a modest but nonetheless strong pace (44 points in 82 games over parts of three seasons after dominating at the U18 level).
Internationally, Lindberg has represented his native Sweden at the U16, U17, U18, and U19 levels. He was not invited to Sweden's World Junior Championship selection camp at any point during his eligibility at the U20 level.
The 20-year-old, 6-2 winger shoots left but has played a good chunk of his professional career on his off-wing. As a rookie in the AHL, Lindberg slotted into the low-scoring, Binghamton Senators' (seeded last place in the Eastern Conference) top-six, registering 22 points in 34 games -- good for fifth on the team in scoring. He sits 29th among AHL rookies in scoring and 65th among U24 AHL players in points per game among those who have played more than 10 games (again, on the worst team in the Eastern Conference and as a rookie).
Signed to a three-year entry level contract after being the ultimate selection from the fourth round pick the Sens acquired in the Ben Bishop trade, Lindberg has developed into a promising prospect as a potential well-rounded winger. Stylistically, Lindberg isn't an aggressive forward but he uses his size to protect the puck well and still impose himself in the offensive zone.
With Binghamton and with Smith in Oshawa, Lindberg has also played on both the powerplay (where his heavy and quick snap-release is a threat) and the penalty kill. And while he had a knack for taking a lot of penalties in junior in Sweden, that has seemed to fade after arriving in North America.
On the Leafs depth chart, while Lindberg probably sits behind William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Andreas Johnson, Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeremy Bracco and Dmytro Timashov as a forward prospect, he slides in ahead of or in the same conversations as the likes Nikita Soshnikov. You can read the most recent version of my Top 25 Under 25 for context as to where he fits in.
In the end, on top of the second round pick the Leafs received, they acquired an under-20 winger with size and strength to his game who has real, tangible NHL upside and adds to a formidable (but small) group of Marlies forwards.
He should factor in to Leafs training camp discussions next fall and is a much better prospect than any of Ryan Rupert, Casey Bailey, and Cody Donaghey (gone the other way in the trade) are.
