Habs sign two Swedish draft picks

source : Montrealgazette.com

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced the signings of two Swedish draft picks on Tuesday: defenceman Magnus Nygren and forward Sebastian Collberg.

The club also announced that defenceman Alexei Emelin underwent successful reconstructive surgery on the ACL and MCL in his left knee and that his recovery is estimated at six months. Emelin suffered the injury when he collided with the Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic in the first period of a game on April 6 at the Bell Centre. The surgery was delayed to allow the swelling in Emelin’s knee to subside.

Nygren, 22, was signed to a two-year contract after playing 51 games with Karlstad Farjestad in the Swedish elite league. He led all defencemen with 13 goals and had 32 points, to go along with a plus-11 and 49 penalty minutes and won the Salming Trophy as the league’s top defenceman. The 6-foot-1, 191-pounder was selected by the Canadiens in the fourth round (113th overall) at the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Collberg, 19, signed a three-year contract after playing 35 games with the Frolunda Indians in the Swedish elite league, posting 6-3-9 totals with six penalty minutes. The 5-foot-11, 181-pound right-winger also played in 15 games with Orebro HK in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan, posting 6-2-8 totals and two penalty minutes. He finished the season in Hamilton, playing two games with the AHL’s Bulldogs.

Collberg was also part of the Swedish team that won a silver medal at this year’s world junior championship, posting 4-2-6 totals in six games. He was selected by the Canadiens in the second round (33rd overall) at the 2012 NHL entry draft.