Change is good. It’s a well-worn phrase, yes, but in this case it translates to a fresh perspective and season-saver for Kraken 2023 second-round draft choice Oscar Fisker Molgaard. When the centerman’s Swedish Hockey League top-tier pro franchise, HV71, made a head coaching move earlier this fall after a 3-9 start, the new coach, Johan Lindbom, was straight to the point.
He informed Fisker Molgaard in no uncertain terms that the 18-year-old would be trusted with the puck during offensive possession, plus being a defensively responsible second-line center (after starting the year playing fourth-line minutes) and joining the power play unit no matter if such meant reducing the roles of veteran players with bigger contracts. The change has worked out for Fisker Molgaard and Lindbom. The team is 5-6 since the Oct. 22 change with five losses either in overtime or a shootout with Fisker Molgaard’s minutes averaging 16 to 20 minutes of time on ice in the last seven games, including a two-goal night for the Kraken prospect in a mid-November 5-3 win.
“I feel like I can take more chances and play more of my offensive game,” said Fisker Molgaard during a phone conversation when the young forward was home in Denmark on the SHL’s holiday break. “But I also want to be a good two-way centerman.”
Fisker Molgaard has a maturity that scouts love (and his parents too, for that matter). It shows in the way he thinks about being an NHL draft choice and a teenager playing against men who are pretty much five to 15 years older.
“I proved myself last season [also with HV17] playing in a pro league at a young age, especially in the defensive zone,” said Fisker Molgaard. “I will make mistakes, that’s part of the game. But I can and will get better from mistakes.”
One more example of the teen’s adult-like qualities: Last season, not turning 18 until February, Fisker Molgaard lived on his own in Jonkoping, a Swedish city of 93,000, with no billet and doing his own meal planning and laundry.
When he was drafted in late June, Fisker Molgaard told gathered reporters at a lectern that he was hoping to “build on my offense.” That didn’t happen early season but Fisker Molgaard’s work on the forecheck and tying up opponents didn’t drop off. He was determined to be a team player and contributor.
Fisker Molgaard is clearly an offensive force when he competes with Team Denmark, which didn’t qualify for the upcoming 2024 IIHF World Juniors. He scored a pair of goals and notched three assists in four games during a U20 tournament in mid-December. During European hockey’s National Team Break, Fisker Molgaard logged five assists in three games with the men’s team. He said the points during international play are good for his confidence.
Like all prospects, Fisker Molgaard has weekly calls with the Kraken player development staff and looks forward to the video breakdowns of his recent games.
“I can definitely use the help,” quips Fisker Molgaard, matter-of-fact. “It’s been great to be part of the organization and play the sport I love.”
Mom and Dad are thrilled to see their son this past week, same for the brothers Molgaard who haven’t seen each other for about six months since Oscar’s draft day. Trine Fisker is not surprised her son rolls evenly with the ups and downs of a professional hockey player who’s already logged 65 games with HV71 and 39 more international contests with formidable goals and assists stats when playing first U18 and now U20.
“He's easygoing and therefore it has become easy for him to get to know people,” said Fisker. “He is so good at making friends outside hockey, but also inside hockey. He loves being social, but he's also very good on his own ... he knows when he just needs to relax and watch Netflix.”
Like so many hockey parents – well, pretty much all of them – Fisker and her husband, Lars Molgaard, made adjustments (change is good, right?) for their hockey-prospect son. The family moved to Sweden when Fisker Molgaard was 14 to play against stiffer competition, no offense to their home country, to which Fisker Molgaard’s parents returned before last season.
“There is a high difference in the level of competition at home in Denmark compared to Sweden,” said Lars Molgaard. “In order to develop and maybe have a chance to be here today, we [all three] decided Oscar might have to go to Sweden.”
Molgaard knows first-hand about levels of competition and what it takes at the pro level. He played 15 years of hockey professionally, often as a teammate of Todd Bjorkstrand, who is Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand’s dad.
Fisker Molgaard gets high marks from scouts for both speed and quickness (the latter in tight spaces, playmaking, and, the key to a hockey scout’s heart, playing effectively without or away from the puck). As his mom purports, the promising center has connected on a first-name basis with 2023 draft choices with whom he hopes to be teammates soon enough, maybe first for AHL Coachella Valley on the way to the NHL.
“I got to know Carson [Rehkopf, fellow second-rounder, No. 50 overall, two picks ahead of Fisker Molgaard] and Caden [Price, third round] at development camp pretty well,” said Fisker Molgaard. “I text a lot with Zebby [Zeb Forsfjall, sixth-rounder and opponent in the SHL who will be playing for Team Sweden in the upcoming World Juniors]. It’s great to get to know guys.”
