Red Wings Pick Goes From Goalie to Goal Scorer

Eddie Genborg didn’t need to do a selling job to convince the Detroit Red Wings to be drafting him. His teammates were opting to serve as Genborg’s marketing department.

“We have a question at the combine,” Detroit director of amateur scouting Kris Draper was explaining. “We always ask teammates, ‘if you’re able to take one or two teammates with you to the NHL, who would you take?’ And it was unanimous that Eddie was that guy for everyone.

“Most of the guys on the Swedish team were saying they wanted to play with Eddie.”

Welcome to Detroit, Eddie! pic.twitter.com/wSjmtwzdfP

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 28, 2025

In hockey, there are two positions on every roster that are universally loved by teammates. One is the goaltender. The enforcer is the other.

Reasoning behind this unwavering love is simple. Both of the those jobs are often thankless tasks. Neither are roles that most players would be willing to fill if called upon.

In Genborg’s case, he used to be a goaltender. And with the way he plays the game, the Swedish winger is about the closest thing to an enforcer that you’ll find in the European game.

“I think he’s a big, strong kid,” Draper said of the left-shot right-winger they selected 44th overall. “He can really skate. He’s physical on the forecheck, a guy that is really tough to play against.

“And, we just really liked the intensity that he’s able to bring.”

Red Wings Pick Played Goal Until Age Of 12

Genborg projects as a bottom-six checker with some offensive upside. Watch footage of Genborg in action and you’ll quickly come to like the way he plays the game. He’ll go into the dirty areas to create a scoring chance. He works the boards with a tenacious ferocity, always hunting the puck.

“I would probably say that I’m a very physical player,” Genborg acknowledged. “I really like to play physical and, yeah, pretty good skater and, yeah, love to compete on the ice.”

He came by his passion for physical play as a natural progression.

“I would say maybe around two years ago, I just found that I have a pretty big body and if I’m being good at playing physical, it can take me pretty long,” the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Genborg said. “So just started from there, I would say.”

I had very little intel prior to our Podcast recording today on Eddie Genborg.

Here are some of his shifts at the IIHF U18s in the semi final game playing for Sweden

🏒 #20
🏒 RW'er but has Left Shot
🏒 Good Size
🏒 He can skate, real smooth
🏒 Willing to hit as you can see
🏒… pic.twitter.com/8HAB2BSSzX

— Michael Devellano Pucks & Dreams 🏒 (@pucksanddreams_) June 29, 2025

Actually, where he started was between the posts. Up until the age of 12, Genborg was all about taking punishment. He was a goalie.

“I started as a goalkeeper there in my hometown when I was around 6, 7, and then I was goalie until I was 12,” Genborg said. “I would say, though, I was a pretty good goalie.”

His reason for making the switch to forward, you could say, was all about a change in his goals.

He simply wanted to get some.

“I mean, I was tired of letting the the puck go behind me in the net, so I just wanted to go outfield and score some goals instead,” Genborg said.

“Yeah, I just wanted to go out to score. I would say that was the biggest thing.”