Don't Sleep On Filip Bystedt

It's easy to forget about San Jose Sharks prospect Filip Bystedt with all the other names in the NHL's best prospect pool. Michael Misa, Quentin Musty, and Igor Chernyshov have become the names to know when, and it's easy to overlook Bystedt.

Filip Bystedt was the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. After the brand-new General Manager, Mike Grier, traded down from the 11th pick to acquire picks 27 (Bystedt), 34 (Cam Lund), and 45 (Mattias Hävelid). With the selection of 6'4" Bystedt out of Linköping in the SHL, Grier started to show what type of players he covets—big forwards who can move.

It's been an up-and-down road for Bystedt. He spent the next two seasons with Linköping before coming over to North America to play at the end of the 2023-24 season. He made an immediate impact with four goals and three assists in eight games with the San Jose Barracuda.

In his rookie season with the Cuda, he showed some flashes but also struggled with injuries. Bystedt missed 22 games last year and had 12 goals and 19 assists in his 50 games. In the playoffs, Bystedt was one of the Barracuda's best players. With AHL MVP Andrew Poturalski out with an injury, Bystedt had to help pick up some of the slack and was one of the Cuda's best skaters.

This year, Bystedt has shown much more consistency in his sophomore season with the Barracuda. While he has been playing with Chernyshov and Musty, Bystedt has seen improvements in his defensive skills and playmaking. Musty and Chernyshov have stolen the headlines, but Bystedt has quietly been a considerable part of their success.

Filip Bystedt's long-term role with San Jose will not be as flashy as Chernyshov's or Musty's roles, but it will be vital. Alex Wennberg is a perfect model for what Bystedt can become. A critical component down the middle for San Jose, who can help eat up defensive matchups and chip in with some production. With Macklin Celebrini and Michael Misa hopefully being the Sharks' one-two down the middle for the next decade-plus, a player like Bystedt can thrive on the third line and give San Jose a massive edge as they start to play more competitive games.

How Bystedt continues his development this season could impact Grier's upcoming decision with Wennberg. If Bystedt looks like he could be ready to start making an impact as soon as next season, Grier might be more willing to trade Wennberg at the deadline (pending the Sharks' playoff positioning) to a contender looking to upgrade their third line center. Players like Wennberg typically get overvalued at the deadline because there are never enough middle-six forwards to go around. While going into next season with Celebrini-Misa-Bystedt down the middle might be scary, given the center group has less than 200 combined NHL games, it could be a way for Grier to embrace the future sooner rather than later.

While Filip Bystedt isn't going to be as sexy as some of the other Sharks prospects, he is well on his way to being an integral part of the Sharks' future success.