- 2020 Second-Round Pick Has Played With Sweden’s Rogle BK Since 2021-22
The Detroit Red Wings today signed defenseman William Wallinder to a three-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2023-24 season. Wallinder will report to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Wallinder, 20, has spent the 2022-23 campaign with Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League, recording 26 points (7-19-26), a plus-three rating and 10 penalty minutes in 50 regular-season games, in addition to three points (1-2-3) in nine postseason contests. His 26 points were tied for the most by any skater 22 years of age or younger in Sweden’s top professional league. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound blueliner also tallied eight points (1-7-8) in nine Champions Hockey League games this season, leading all defensemen in the tournament with seven assists. Wallinder played the majority of the 2021-22 season with Rogle, collecting 19 points (4-15-19), a plus-five rating and six penalty minutes in 47 regular-season games along with one goal in 13 postseason appearances. Wallinder was also a member of Rogle’s CHL-winning squad in 2022, posting four penalty minutes in 13 games. Additionally, Wallinder registered four points (1-3-4) in seven games with Rogle’s under-20 team during the 2021-22 campaign.
Originally selected by the Red Wings in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Wallinder made his professional debut with MoDo Hockey in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan, totaling eight points (1-7-8) and 16 penalty minutes in 61 games in the country’s second tier from 2019-21. Wallinder also logged 35 points (9-26-35) in 47 games with MoDo’s under-20 team and 23 points (6-17-23) in 29 games at the under-18 level. A native of Solleftea, Sweden, Wallinder dished out three assists in seven games for his country at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, winning a bronze medal with Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson. He also captured a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing with a plus-one rating in five appearances.