He had the services of a translator.
But in the end, Jakob Leander didn’t need any extra clarification from countryman Axel Hurtig, breezing through a quick conversation on the first day of Flames Development Camp last week.
The 18-year-old Leander - a seventh-round pick of the Flames in the 2025 NHL Draft - instead expressed surprise at Calgary’s summer sunshine.
“I thought it should be cold here, but it’s really hot!” he exclaimed.
No doubt Hurtig will fill Leander in on the highs and lows of Alberta winters, as Leander reflects on his first-ever trip to North America.
A business trip at that.
The defenceman says he was hanging out with friends, watching the Draft June 28, and that the celebration was on once his name flashed across the screen next to the Flames logo.
“I watched the TV, the whole draft,” he said. “My name was on the TV, so I was really happy!”
Leander spent most of last season playing at the U20 level in Sweden, and he’s been part of the HV71 program in Jonkoping for the past three years.
In 39 games, the 6’4” right-shot blue liner put up six points, but his 49 penalty minutes would suggest a bit of truculence, too.
“Last season was a really good season for me,” he said of the jump from U18 to U20. “I’m a defender that is good in the defensive zone.
“I like to play hard.”
It’s perhaps fitting, then, that Hurtig was the one to help Leander around.
Two years his senior, Hurtig arrived in North America with the Calgary Hitmen last fall after being selected by the Flames in the seventh round of the 2023 Draft.
A defensive defenceman by trade, Hurtig’s WHL season concluded by being named the team’s top defender - a notable achievement, given the Hitmen had four NHL draftees on the blue line last season.
At Dev Camp, the Swedes stuck together. And Hurtig was also able to help Leander on the ice, given they skated in the same small group.
“He helped me a lot, so it’s really nice,” said Leander. “And I had (forward) Theo Stockselius here (to help), too, so it was good.”
