Major turn of events and an imminent announcement regarding a young defenseman of the Montreal Canadiens: Mattias Norlinder is back

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Julien Trekker
August 22, 2023 (8:28)

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Several rumors have reported that defenseman Mattias Norlinder would be preparing to leave the Canadiens organization.

This information had been mentioned by former CH scout Grant McCagg, but as reported by Marco Normandin, from Habsolumentfan.com, it seems that this is not the case at all.

According to Mathias Brunet of La Presse, not only would it not be the end for Norlinder with the Canadiens, but the latter, who is currently in Sweden, would be preparing to head to North America in the coming days to participate in the training camp of the Laval Rocket.

An announcement is imminent.

"A rumor recently suggested the return of young defenseman Mattias Norlinder to Sweden, after only one full season with the Laval Rocket last year. Norlinder is participating in the training camp in Frölunda, but he should in principle be heading to Quebec shortly for the Canadiens' camp. That's at least the information received by the organization from the agent of this young left-handed defenseman."

The veteran journalist is not the only one to have had privileged information in this story as Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports also mentioned that the Canadiens' prospect has not left the organization and will be at the team's training camp in September.

"The rumor that Mattias Norlinder will not be returning to North America for the last year of his contract with the Canadiens is false. Norlinder is expected to fly to Montreal in early September. He will be at the Canadiens' camp, his agent confirms to me."

One may wonder how Grant McCagg could declare with certainty that the Canadiens' prospect was going to leave the organization and return to Sweden.

It must be said that the young defenseman has not had many opportunities to seize his chance within the organization, as he has only played six games with the big club during the 2021-2022 season.

A third-round pick by the Canadiens in 2019, Norlinder has already been considered one of the team's good blue-line prospects, but let's just say he's been overshadowed by other young defensemen over the years.

It could even be that the next Canadiens training camp will be his last chance to secure a spot with the big club, and let's be honest, the chances of that happening are rather slim.