Larry Henry Jr
Emil Andrae is one of the Philadelphia Flyers top prospects heading into the future and the Swedish defenseman’s impressive time in the Swedish Hockey League helped him sign a professional contract on Monday.
Andrae signed a three-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2023-24 season, the Flyers announced Monday. The 21-year-old Andrae is currently with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an AHL try-out basis for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
He was selected in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Flyers.
Andrae registered 26 points (six goals, 20 assists, 26 points) in 51 games this season with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The 5-foot-9, 191-pound native of Vastervik, Sweden, is tied for first on the team in blocked shots (42), ranked second in power-play goals and average time on ice (20:29), third in assists, fourth in hits (48) and fifth in points.
Andrae made his professional debut with Lehigh Valley on March 25 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and tallied his first career assist. He has totaled two assists in two appearances with the Phantoms to date.
Andrae registered 33 points in 92 career games with HV71 in three seasons (2019-21, 2022-23). Internationally, he has represented Sweden at the 2021 and 2022 World Junior U-20 Championships and earned a bronze medal at the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and at the 2019 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.
The Flyers have 10 regular-season games remaining this season and are a long shot to make the NHL Playoffs, sitting 14 points out of the final spot.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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