To put it mildly, Stian Solberg’s attempt at defense is a… unusual one.
Solberg told reporters earlier this month at the Buffalo 2024 NHL Draft Combine that he just moved to defense when he was 14 years old. Solberg stated that his Norwegian team required assistance filling a space on the blue line after one of his colleagues got in trouble for using the team shower while they were competing.
After Solberg entered the picture, the rest is history.Early in the season, Solberg was thought to be a late-round prospect, but he soon rose to the top of the 2024 NHL Draft rankings. Additionally, scouts don’t usually spend a lot of time monitoring him because he spent the previous three three years, mostly spent with the men’s squad of Vålerenga in Norway’s premier division.
It was immediately apparent that Solberg would not be an offensive producer. But his worth as a physical, defensive defense man was obvious, and considering that NHL Central Scouting ranked Solberg as the No. 20 European defense man, there may not be a better choice in the first round of the draft than him.
Remember that earlier this spring, the ranking came before the Men’s and U-18 World Championships. Though he was among the tournament’s youngest players, it was the latter that cemented Solberg as a first-round prospect, having seen him play such an important part for Norway.
Solberg told reporters earlier this month at the Buffalo 2024 NHL Draft Combine that he just moved to defense when he was 14 years old. Solberg stated that his Norwegian team required assistance filling a space on the blue line after one of his colleagues got in trouble for using the team shower while they were competing.
After Solberg entered the picture, the rest is history.Early in the season, Solberg was thought to be a late-round prospect, but he soon rose to the top of the 2024 NHL Draft rankings. Additionally, scouts don’t usually spend a lot of time monitoring him because he spent the previous three three years, mostly spent with the men’s squad of Vålerenga in Norway’s premier division.
It was immediately apparent that Solberg would not be an offensive producer. But his worth as a physical, defensive defense man was obvious, and considering that NHL Central Scouting ranked Solberg as the No. 20 European defense man, there may not be a better choice in the first round of the draft than him.
Remember that earlier this spring, the ranking came before the Men’s and U-18 World Championships. Though he was among the tournament’s youngest players, it was the latter that cemented Solberg as a first-round prospect, having seen him play such an important part for Norway.
Only a few senior national team games had been played by Solberg prior to his World Championship debut earlier in May. With goals against Canada and Czechia, two of the top teams in the competition, he made an impression. Despite his aggressive penalties that got him into problems, it was a great boost to watch him play more than 23 minutes a night on a team that was either battling for survival or winning. It was highly deserved that Solberg was listed as one of Norway’s top three players.
