St. Louis Blues select Otto Stenberg with No. 25 overall pick in 2023 NHL Draft

The St. Louis Blues have selected forward Otto Stenberg with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

The Swede split most of his season with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League and Vastra Frolunda Jr. in the Sweden J20 SuperElit. He played 23 regular season games with Frolunda HC with a goal, two assists, and three points, along with no points in two playoff games, and played 29 games with Vastra Frolunda Jr. with 11 goals, 15 assists, and 26 points, along with two goals in two playoff games. He also spent some time with the Frolunda HC J18 team, with 7 goals, 3 assists, and 10 points in three games for the J18 Region, and a total of 8 goals, 8 assists, and 16 points in 11 games at the J18 Nationell.

Stenberg also played a total of 19 games for the Swedish U-18 national team, with 17 goals, 15 assists, and 32 points in those games. That includes seven games as the captain of the World U18 Championship team, where he had 7 goals, 9 assists, and 16 points en route to a 3-2 loss in the gold medal game to come away with silver in the tournament.

Daily Faceoff’s own prospect expert Steven Ellis projected Stenberg to go 27th overall in his mock draft of the 2023 NHL Draft, Stenberg was selected 25h overall. Ellis had this to say about him in his prospect rankings:

“Scouts are completely mixed here. The highs are high. The lows are low. He looked out of place in the SHL but was excellent against kids his own age. The raw talent is there, especially as a 200-foot threat that can be dangerous around both nets. His biggest asset might be his play-reads.”

The Blues finished with a 37-38-7 record in the 2022-23 season, giving them 81 points that was good enough for 6th in the Central Division and 23rd in the league. They missed the playoffs as a result.