Is it October yet?
Unfortunately, no, but we're here to help pass the time. From Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, The Hockey News Nashville Predators will be counting down 24 players in 24 days, profiling every current or potentially rostered player.
Today's player profile is defenseman Andreas Englund.
24 Nashville Predators in 24 days series
Adam Wilsby
Jordan Oesterle
As an NHL prospect
Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Englund played his junior hockey with Djurgårdens IF in J20 Nationell and moved up to HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest hockey league, later that year.
In his draft year, 2014, he played 33 games in the J20 league, scoring 10 points in 33 games and in HockeyAllsvenskan, he scored two points in 19 games.
Enguland was selected 40th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2014 draft, but remained in Sweden for two more seasons. For the 2014-15 campaign, he moved up to the SHL, Sweden's top hockey league, scoring five points in 49 games. The following season, he had six points in 46 games.
Professional career
To start the 2016-17 season, Englund split time between the Ottawa and Binghamton Senators. He played 69 games in the AHL, scoring 10 points and logging 82 penalty minutes. It was a relatively uneventful season in the NHL, marked by just five games and no points scored.
The following season, Binghmaton moved to Belleville, Ontario, and Englund would split time between there and Ottawa from 2017 to 2020. His best season in the AHL, in that stretch, was during the 2018-19 campaign, where he played 68 games, scoring 14 points and logging 77 penalty minutes.
Englund's best season with the Senators was 2019-20, where he played 24 games and had three points.
Englund's contract expired in 2020, and due to the delayed start of the 2020-21 season, Englund signed to play a season with Västerviks IK in Sweden; however never played a game due to injury.
Eventually, Englund would sign as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche to start the 2021-22 season. He'd played the entirety of that season with the Colorado Eagles, logging a career high 103 penalty minutes in 57 games and 12 points.
During the 2022-23 season, Englund split time between the Avalanche and Eagles, playing a career high 36 games in the NHL, recording three points.
He was traded midway through the season to the Chicago Blackhawks and played 11 games, recording a point.
His time in Chicago was short-lived as he signed as a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason with the Los Angeles Kings.
Englund spent a season and a half with the Kings, playing in 93 games, scoring 11 points and logging 93 penalty minutes. The 2023-24 season was the first time in his career Enguland had played a full NHL season.
In the final year of a two-year contract with the Kings, Englund struggled and was placed on waivers. In February, the Predators claimed him. Nashville offered Englund a 1-year, $775,000 contract.
What role will he play this season?
In a little under a month last season, the Predators claimed four players off of waivers, Englund was one of them.
Nashville needed a defenseman, and Englund is a veteran player who was available to be picked up. However, he has not done much to add depth to the defense, other than fighting. He had 36 penalty minutes in the 24 games he played at the end of last season.
Similar to Jordan Oesterle, Englund is going to be battling for minutes on the Predators' third pairing, or be the seventh player.
The Predators have seemingly "fixed" the defense by adding Nic Hague and Nick Perbix, but if that doesn't work out, expect Englund to be thrown back into the rotation.
Overall, the Predators need their defense to start contributing, and Englund has never been that. He hasn't had more than 14 points in a season between playing in the NHL and AHL.
If the Predators are looking for an "enforcer," Englund would fill out that role, but right now, the Predators have too many defensemen who aren't doing enough.
Read the full article here
