We took a look at all 35 players in the system that are aged 25 or younger (as of October 1, 2023) and ranked them. Welcome to the Top 25 Under 25. At #13, Emil Martinsen Lilleberg joins the organization as a free agent from Norway. Lilleberg was originally a fourth round pick of the Arizona Coyotes but was never retained. The left shot defender comes to the team after two strong seasons in the SHL and for his country.
Bio
Age: 22
Position: Left Defense
Draft: 2021 Round 4 (#107 overall) (Arizona)
2023-24 Team: Syracuse Crunch
2022 Ranking: N/A
Stats
Scouting Report
Lilleberg got on the NHL map after he captained Norway at the 2020 Men’s World Juniors after the program got promoted to the top tier and won Bronze in 2019. Once he got noticed, Arizona drafted him at the age of 19 in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. Before his draft, Lilleberg was playing in the Norwegian league, and after he moved into the SHL.
Teenagers rarely succeed in the SHL, the top European league in the world, especially defenders. But with Lilleberg’s size and by simplifying his game, he was able to adapt quickly and become a reliable middle pairing guy who hits, joins in on the offense, and is more-or-less not a headache in the defensive zone. He is known to wander out of position, at times.
One aspect of Lilleberg’s game that stood out was his hands. For a 6’2″ player, he has impressive hands in tight and poise with the puck. He’s able to hold onto the puck and fake out checkers or goalies with small movements. On the physical side, Lilleberg likes to throw his weight around with hits and can muscle his way to the puck in high end men’s leagues.
Despite the development staff in Arizona having a lot of good things to say about the young defender, the Coyotes didn’t qualify him for a contract this summer ahead of free agency. He was scooped up by the Lightning on July 5th on a two-year ELC. He’ll be eligible to play in the NHL and AHL this year.
Speaking of the AHL, it won’t be as big of a jump for Lilleberg to make as compared to other junior or NCAA prospects coming onto the team. For all intents and purposes, Lilleberg is an experienced pro with over 200 games of pro hockey experience, including nearly 100 games in a very comparable league to the AHL in Sweden. I say comparable because since the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden’s league has absorbed a ton of talent and is a very hard league to make. Which makes Lilleberg playing regularly as a teenage defender that much more impressive.
I ranked Lilleberg 8th in my ranking as the highest defender on my ballot. He was first in a string of five defenders all back to back (Lilleberg, Thompson, Carlile, Powell, Schmidt). There are no NHL defenders under the age of 25 in the organization, so by default I figured a young defender who will walk into the top four in Syracuse, with a legitimate shot at making the big club, and with the most pro experience on the ballot would be first.
I wouldn’t put money on Lilleberg being in the NHL this year — but stranger things, particularly named Darren Raddysh, have happened before. Of the U25 players, I think he’ll have the first shot at the big job. Maybe they see a chance to rush Carlile or Crozier to the NHL because of their safe defensive play, but Lilleberg would bring some more of that offensive and physical play the third pair has mostly lacked with the promotion of Mikhail Sergachev. I see a lot of similarities in Lilleberg and young Sergachev. Not necessarily in terms of ceiling, but style of play.
Highlights
Draft junkies are spoiled each winter, with the World Junior A Challenge and World Juniors stealing many eyes for a few weeks each year. But, like every IIHF level, the top World Junior tournament isn’t the only major U20 event that takes place during
