Red Wings Pick Bitter Over Swedish Junior Snub

Noah Dower Nilsson was part of the buildup for the Swedish world junior team, but when the Swedes were naming their team for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship, the Detroit Red Wings draftee was not part of the squad.

He’s not taking the snub well.

“I was completely in shock,” Dower Nillson told Swedish site Goteborgs-Posten. “It was of course disappointing to miss it.”

Dower Nilsson, a 19-year-old left-winger, got the word from Swedish coach Magnus Havelid that he hadn’t been included in the final 25-player roster for the tournament in Ottawa later this month.

The call is just a blur in his memory.

Noah Dower Nilsson med kvitteringsmålet till 1-1. pic.twitter.com/cCSNQUpaDQ

— Frölunda HC (@frolunda_hc) December 7, 2024

“I don’t even know what he said,” Dower Nilsson said. “To be honest, I didn’t listen much when he called.”

Selected 73rd  overall by the Red Wings in the 2023 NHL entry draft, Dower Nilsson has been dealing with shoulder issues for much of the time since the draft. He underwent surgery in 2023. That limited him to nine games during the 2023-24 season.

This season, his account is showing 3-5-8 totals in 18 games for Frolunda of the SHL. Dower Nilsson’s older brother Liam (134th, 2021) is also a Red Wings draftee. He is playing for Bjorkloven IF of Hockey Allsvenskan, the Swedish second division, where his totals are 15-12-27 in 28 games.

Red Wings Prospect Playing For Finland

The news was much better on the world junior front for another Red Wings hopeful. Right-winger Jesse Kiiskinen, 19, is part of 26-player squad earning invitation to Finland’s world junior final camp.  A second-round pick of the Nashville Predators in 2023, he was an addition to the Red Wings prospect pool when the club was dealing defenseman Andrew Gibson to the Preds last summer.

Jesse Kiiskinen with a really nice primary assist 🍎 in his first game back from injury. Pretty crazy that he’s been out close to 4 weeks and still has the gold helmet. It shows how much they rely on him for production. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/nz7TddQX9h

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) November 27, 2024

Interestingly, Gibson will be playing for Canada at the world juniors.

Finland will be cutting a player from the squad to get down to the 25-player limit, but it’s not going to be Kiiskinen. He’s playing for HP Hameenlinna in Finland’s SM-liiga and is among the club’s top scorers. Despite losing almost a month to an ankle injury, Kiiskinen is the club’s leading scorer with 8-14-22 totals from 26 games.