LAS VEGAS — It is the call that every hockey player dreams of getting.
When Adin Hill went down with a lower-body injury in the opening period of the Vegas Golden Knights’ 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 20, the team found themselves in something of a bind. They are heading into a three-game road trip, starting Saturday against the Florida Panthers, and they suddenly held a massive question mark in net. While the Golden Knights did sign Carter Hart, he is not eligible to play in the NHL until December.
With limited options, the Golden Knights made the call to their AHL affiliate Henderson Silver Knights to bring up 22-year-old Carl Lindbom.
“Well, I was obviously just very happy,” Lindbom said about his call-up to Ashali Vise. “It obviously sucks what happened to Hillsy, but as soon as your name gets called, you’re really ecstatic, stoked.”
Lindbom has every right to feel the way he does, as even making it to the NHL is already a sign that he has beaten the odds.
A seventh-round pick (No. 222 overall) of the Golden Knights in 2021, there was no guarantee Lindbom would ever make it to the highest echelons of the sport. His six-foot-one frame put him on the shorter side of prototypical NHL goaltender size. That said, a similar netminder drafted in the same range in Dustin Wolf has found success with the Calgary Flames, so it could work out.
It did not take long for the hockey world to catch wind that the Golden Knights found themselves a diamond in the rough in the Swedish goaltender.
“I describe myself as good on my feet, good skater, read the game well,” said Lindbom. “Obviously, a little bit smaller in stature, so just trying to read the game, trying to be quick on my feet.”
Ever since the Golden Knights drafted Lindbom, all the young goaltender has done is impress.
In his three years in Sweden, Lindbom was able to shine at the highest levels in his home country. The goaltender never had a save percentage below .911 or a goals against average above 2.27 across either of his three seasons in league play. Lindbom impressed in international play as well, starting for Sweden at the 2023 World Junior Championships and recording a .914 save percentage and 2.64 GAA across seven games (all starts).
Then, in the 2024-25 season, Lindbom made the transition to North America to play in Henderson.
Despite the Silver Knights’ struggles that year, the Swede stood out for all the right reasons. Lindbom surprisingly outperformed Akira Schmid in the AHL, posting a 18-15-3 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.65 GAA. It was clear that Vegas had found their goaltender of the future in Lindbom, but it was just a matter of when the opportunity would come along to give him his shot in net.
“It’s going to be hard,” said Lindbom about his transition from Sweden to the AHL now to the NHL. “It’s obviously hard getting to another level, the better level. I think it’s going to be a transition, but hopefully I can deal with it as quick as possible.”
With the Golden Knights facing a back-to-back with the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 25 and 26, the opportunity could arise for Lindbom to prove that the future in net for Vegas is well and truly here and now.
