With their first pick in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres selected Swedish center Anton Wahlberg.
Wahlberg, 17, will turn 18 on July 4. The native of Malmö, Sweden stands at 6’3″ and clocks in at 192 pounds. He’s a left-handed shooter under contract with his hometown Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League for the 2023-2024 season.
Last season, Wahlberg bounced around through the various levels of the Malmö organization. He put up four points in three games at the J18 level. He spent much of the season at the J20 Nationell level, where he scored 27 points (14-13) in 32 regular-season games. He also skated in 17 SHL games, accruing four points.
DBTB reader bdn00707 called Wahlberg a “toolsy center who has one of the highest ceilings of this second round.”
Meanwhile, T. McGee had plenty to say about Wahlberg in a mock draft earlier this year:
“Built like a bull, burgeoning power forward. A player who has been rising for much of the 2nd half of the season, Wahlberg is a 6’3 205# forward who can play a variety of styles, but whichever style, he likes to use his size and strength to control play. His play in the middle of the ice garnered a lot of the attention he’s been getting. And we know how the Sabres like their Swedes! The kid does not have the best wheels, and honestly, he needs to work on his explosion and first three steps coming out of the blocks. So, he’s hardly ideal in the mobility department. But he’s strong on his skates, has solid lateral movement, and if he gets some runway, he can get up to a pretty impressive top speed for a guy his size.
He’s at his best moving off the wall into the middle of the ice with the puck, where he uses his body to shield it from a defender and power toward the top of the crease where he creates chaos. Is most effective offensively when operating out of the cycle. He wins a lot of puck battles on the walls and in the corners and is difficult to contain in front of the net. When he’s on his game – and to be fair, consistency can be a problem – he’s got a real knack for keeping his stick free and just overpowering defenders to create screens while keeping himself free enough to get to loose pucks and jam rebounds into the net. Physically engages the man first, then finds the puck. A great asset at creating space for teammates. Will join a puck battle, stand up the opponent, and allow a teammate to recover the puck and with the space gained, make a play. But he’s also very effective when he recovers a puck. Feet are always in motion.
Will curl off the wall or out of the corner with the puck and is more than capable of making the right pass to set up a teammate or create havoc when he drives to the post. Has a nasty snapshot that he releases in a hurry and can beat goalies from the dots with it. Not a lot of variety in his shot arsenal. Puts a value on getting pucks to the net as quickly as possible. He’s dangerous on the forecheck, where if he can get to the defender, he will body them up and force them to make mistakes. A tenacious checker, he’s relentless on both the fore- and backcheck, taking good angles on puck carriers and disrupting plays with his sheer size and long stick. No problem with hammering a guy in open ice, and is a beast in the Neutral Zone, where he always seems to be pushing the puck in the right direction.
When carrying the puck, defenders seem to bounce off him. He’s not a zone entry wizard by any means, but his hands will surprise you at times. He can cross up a defender holding the blue line, slip by, and drive right down the slot for a prime scoring chance. A high-pressure defender, Wahlberg protects the middle of the ice in his own end but doesn’t hesitate when defending on-puck. Sometimes he’s overaggressive and will get beat one-on-one, but he quickly pursues and never gives up on a play. Obviously, he’s been up and down this past couple of seasons, but lately he’s been much more up than down. Bigger players always take time to evolve their games. Wahlberg is no different (not to mention he’s a late birthday in this class).
There are stretches where you wonder what happened to him, particularly on the offensive end. But when he’s playing well, he’s a bear to handle in all three zones. Played most of the year in U-20 Swedish league for Malmo, but late in the year saw him promoted to the SHL and he made the most of it, putting up 4P in 17 games as a 17-year-old and creating a number of additional chances. Really shining at the U-18 Worlds, he put up 6P in 7 games for the Silver-medal winning Swedes as one of their Top 6 forwards. I can see him being a Nicolas Roy sort of player down the road, and potentially more if he approaches his ceiling.”