At the trade deadline, Kekalainen referred to Bemstrom as a player many teams inquired about but one he had no interest in trading, in part because of his historic season in the SHL. Names like Forsberg, Sedin, Pettersson and Naslund come up when looking at the list of players to score so impressively at Bemstrom's age in Sweden.
"He's done some significant things," Kekalainen said. "No one talks about him, but every time I talk to a GM, that's the guy they ask about, or they ask about (2018 first-round pick) Liam Foudy, or they as about Alexandre Texier, and it's a no every time. It's a nonstarter."