Detroit Red Wings: What to make of defenseman Gustav Lindström

As the Detroit Red Wings continue to work through their rebuild and this offseason, the team is going to start taking shape. One of the defensemen who has been around the past few seasons is a Swedish defenseman by the name of Gustav Lindström.

The Detroit Red Wings have had Lindström on the roster for each of the past two seasons. He may not be too present on the scoresheet or in the lineup every night, but he has been around and been given some chances in each of the past two seasons.

As this offseason continues on, decisions will be made. For Lindström, he is a restricted free agent and is likely going to be given another cheap deal where he floats between the NHL-level and the AHL-level with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Lindström is a 2017 second-round draft choice of the Red Wings who has not come out of the gates on fire but has still been intriguing. He will likely be returning, and it will be interesting to see if he can pair strong defense with some breakout scoring.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Gustav Lindström has not been a breakout prospect but is likely going to return.

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In his first-ever chances with the Red Wings, Lindström was called up in lieu of injuries and struggles from defenseman Dennis Cholowski.

His debut came in 2019-20, where he logged 16 games for the Red Wings, picking up just one assist to his credit.

He was stronger in the defensive zone and was somewhat of aid to a horrifically bad defensive core. This past season, in 2020-21, Lindström logged 13 total games. He collected just three assists and once again was more of a defensive addition.

Fans should view Lindström as one of the odd ones out. He’s a restricted free agent and is likely to return, but he is not going to be much more than a defensive defenseman. That would mean that Lindström will likely get another chance in 2021-22.

However, fans should not expect much of a change from Lindström. He will mostly be considered an aid to the defensive core, which still struggles in the defense department. The goals against statistic has been a problem for the rebuilding Red Wings, the lack of defense is an issue but has been fixed minimally.

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If Lindström wants to stick around in Detroit, he will have to prove his worth as a defensive defender over a longer set than around 15 games or tap into some scoring. While Lindström has not shown much offensively yet, he needs to figure things out if he wants to stick around with this crop of young defenders working their way to the NHL level.

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