I really don’t see any reasonable way Norlinder makes the team this upcoming season, barring MB completely shitting the bed and not picking up a single competent D-man in the offseason. Which I guess isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
then why sign him when you had 2 more years to do so, now we lost a spot on a 50 where he had 2 open spots all year this season, he burns a year off his ELC as well. I could see their plan being on him getting top pairing TOI with Frolunda next season, then coming over at the end of the year assuming Laval is in the playoffs, but if that's the plan then why not just sign him then, see how his season goes and if he stays healthy and plays well etc..
They said he would be coming over to camp, so we'll see as we get closer to what the plan actually is. Timmins said a while back that he feels they made a mistake with Collberg when they brought him over for camp as when he went back to Frolunda, he lost his spot in the lineup and didn't get much playing time that year (he was on the 4th line, as Frolunda is one of the top teams in the SHL most years). So if he's at camp, it would be stupid since it would be while SHL season is starting, but we'll see what the plan is soon enough.
For those that don't follow the Euro leagues, keep in mind the KHL preseason starts in 2 days, the SHL and Liiga should be starting up soon as I well, since their season starts in 7 weeks.