WAHLBERG SHOWING MATURITY BEYOND HIS YEARS
Apr 10, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
In just four games, 18-year-old Anton Wahlberg has delivered for the Amerks.
The teenager has points in three straight games following his debut, including a crucial goal midway through the third period last weekend in Providence, helping the Amerks force overtime en route to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Bruins.
“It felt great,” said Wahlberg on his first North American pro goal. “Jobst made a great pass to me at the net and it was awesome. I was just happy to help the team and help my teammates win.”
The humbleness in Wahlberg’s answer comes from his upbringing. Wahlberg is from an area not too far from Malmö, Sweden, where he grew up with his twin brother and older sister. His dad got him into a pair of skates by the time he was a toddler and later went on to coach Wahlberg during some of his youth hockey journey. Hockey was a passion for their family, but around his teenage years, Wahlberg realized it was a passion that could potentially turn into a career.
“I think when I switched back to playing for Malmö when I was around 15,” said Wahlberg in response to being asked when he thought he could play professionally. “I felt like I was one of the best players on the team, always trying to do my best. I had a dream to play professionally. I just felt like I could be something good. I just need to take the right path and listen to everybody around me.”
Wahlberg’s drive got rewarded last summer when the Buffalo Sabres selected him early in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, taking him with the 39th overall pick.
“It was a pretty cool experience. It’s everything I worked and dreamed for since I was a child. Getting drafted, when that comes true, it's just awesome. You think about all the work you put in and all of the things you've done, and it feels like you've done something right. It was just a big dream.”
“He’s a different prospect than what we have,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “He’s more of a straight line, north-south, power winger. We don’t have as many of those, which makes him a little rare and valuable.”
Wahlberg stands 6-foot-3, weighing in at just under 200 pounds; both numbers rank about the team’s average of 187 pounds and 6-foot-0, respectively. While his size makes him unique, so, too, does his maturity on the ice.
“I think one of the biggest compliments you can give him is that as a coach, I’m not afraid to put him on the ice in big moments,” said Appert. “That’s rare as an 18-year-old and even more rare in your first couple weeks over here in North America. That’s a credit to him and that’s a credit to the coaching he’s received up until this point.”
Another feather in Wahlberg’s cap is that his rookie year didn’t begin in Rochester. Before putting an Amerks jersey over his head, the European forward skated in 43 games for the Malmö Redhawks of the SHL, the top Swedish pro league. He scored five goals and 10 points before coming to the Amerks, where Wahlberg currently has three points (1+2) in four games.
“You can tell he’s played pro hockey this year. That’s an advantage to him with those European leagues. He was getting 13, 14, 15 minutes a night playing against men and not kids in junior hockey.”
“It's been a pretty big adjustment coming from Sweden,” said Wahlberg. It’s not even just the smaller ice. The game is much more physical here. Everything goes quick, so you’re needing to play both defense and offense every shift. I feel like you almost have to be a different player.”
Wahlberg’s adjustments have earned him prime opportunities in the Rochester lineup, skating alongside leading scorer Mason Jobst and team captain Michael Mersch.
“He’s earned it,” said Appert. “The first game or two, we just had to throw him out there and see what we’ve got. But then, his play has dictated that he gets further opportunities. His play has been very good. He’s good on the wall. He’s been limited on his turnovers.”
It’s been an impressive two weeks for the Sabres’ prospect in the Flower City, but a good couple of weeks in the AHL won’t satisfy Wahlberg.
The young power forward says he’s dreamt of playing not just pro hockey, but NHL hockey. Since he can first remember seeing a game when he was five years old, Wahlberg looked up to Patrick Kane and Sydney Crosby, his favorite players as a child. Now, there is a possibility he can play against his idols.
“Yeah, that's a pretty cool thing that you think about. My friends, some of them have talked about that with me, but I don't want to think about that yet. I need to work hard here and make it to them first. I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Wahlberg is on the cusp of achieving his dream, and he knows that NHL roads lead through Rochester. His journey through growing up and playing in Europe has led him to the Amerks. Now, his North American journey, one in which he hopes leads to sharing the ice with some of the game’s greatest, has just begun.