Milton Gastrin of MoDo in the Swedish Hockey League has his sights set on becoming the next great NHL player from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
"It's a pretty small city ... only 40-50,000 people who live there," Gastrin said. "Unlike Stockholm where there's one or two million. I don't know the reason, maybe it's something in the air or the water, but there's some big names coming from that town."
Big names, indeed. The list, to name a few, includes Victor Hedman, Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin.
"I haven't chatted with any of them so much but in the summer, the NHL players often come and skate on weekends with MoDo," Gastrin said. "For example, I practiced with Victor Olofsson last summer. I think the city loves hockey and the players enjoy staying there or coming back."
Gastrin is on the right development path to becoming a future star as well. The 18-year-old center (6-foot-1, 194 pounds) had 42 points (18 goals, 24 assists) in 40 games with MoDo's team in Sweden's junior league before playing in eight games in the SHL, Sweden's top professional men's league.
"He can play center or wing," MoDo general manager Henrik Gradin said. "He's going to have the opportunity to play center in 2025-26 but he was a wing this season in those [eight] opportunities he got. I think at the next level he can play both, but right now we're giving him a chance to play center."
That’s the position Gastrin enjoys playing most, too.
"I've played a lot of both over the years," he said. "With a men's team, I played a lot of wing. With the junior teams, I played a lot of center and I prefer to play center. I think when I'm playing my best hockey, I play as a center."