The Boston Bruins selected goaltender Philip Svedeback 117th overall in the fourth round. Svedeback was the first goaltender taken by the Bruins in the NHL Draft since 2017 when they took Jeremy Swayman.

The Stockholm, Sweden native has been playing in Swedish hockey leagues since he’s been around 14 years of age. He started off in the U16 Div. 1 league, then played in J18 Elit, then J18 Allsvenskan, and more recently played in the J20 SuperElit and J20 Nationell.

Though he played in several different leagues in Sweden, he only played for three teams during his young career. He started off playing for the Wings HC during his U16 days, then played for the Växjö Lakers HC from 2018-21. He was also loaned to Hammarby IF of HockeyEttan for two games this year. For the upcoming season, however, Svedeback is planning to go to the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL.

Svedeback’s best season probably happened in 2018-19, his first year with the Växjö Lakers HC. He finished with a .927 save percentage, a 2.33 GAA and a 7-2 record in nine games played. More recently though, Svedeback posted more pedestrian numbers in 2020-21. For the Lakers HC, he finished with a .912 save percentage, 3.47 GAA and a 5-6 record in 12 games. During his loan assignment, he concluded with a .816 save percentage, 4.55 GAA and 0-2 record.

The Bruins seem to be playing on the potential of Svedeback rather than looking at his decline from last season. Since he’s still only 19, it will be a long time before he’s ready to play in the NHL. Svedeback should be honing his craft for the next couple years.