The young goaltender who grew up idolizing countryman Henrik Lundqvist moved one step closer to joining the New York Rangers star in the NHL on Monday.

Denver freshman Filip Larsson signed a three-year entry level contract with the Detroit Red Wings worth an average annual value of $925,000, according to Capfriendly.com. The contract will begin with the 2019-20 season. Larsson was a sixth-round pick by Detroit in 2016.

This season, Larsson was dynamic in the second half of the season and lights out down the stretch, when DU made run to its third Frozen Four in four seasons. He started six of Denver’s seven postseason games, going 4-2 with a 1.12 goals-against average, a .962 save percentage and three of his four shutouts, including both games of the NCAA West Regional last month.

Larsson, 20, becomes the sixth DU player to leave school early to sign with an NHL team in the past two seasons.

Larsson missed the Pioneers’ first 11 games of the season while recovering from a lower-body injury he sustained the previous season in junior with Tri-City of the United States Hockey league. He aggravated it at the Red Wings’ prospects camp over the summer.

Still, he fashioned a 13-6-3 record with a 1.95 GAA (11th in Division I) and a .932 save percentage (sixth in D-I), and he combined with sophomore Devin Cooley to give the Pioneers enviable depth in net.

Larsson’s stinginess in net was nothing new. In his final season of junior hockey in Sweden (2016-17), he led the league with a .939 save percentage and also had a 2.24 GAA. Last season, he was selected the USHL Goaltender of the Year and a first-team all-star after posting the best save percentage in league history (.941) and the second-best GAA (1.65). He had seven shutouts in just 30 games.

Where he fits in with the Red Wings will be interesting to watch.

Detroit has two veteran goalies signed through next season – 35-year-old Jimmy Howard, who will be in the final year of his contract, and 30-year-old Jonathan Bernier, who is signed through 2020-21.

Beyond those two, the Red Wings’ main prospect was fellow 20-year-old Kaden Fulcher, whom Detroit signed as an undrafted free agent last year. Fulcher spent most of the season with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League and played part of one game at the end of the season in Detroit.

The other two goalies in Detroit’s system both are upcoming free agents – 29-year-old Harri Sateri is unrestricted, and 25-year-old Patrik Rybar is restricted.

Given Larsson’s performance the past two seasons – his only two in North America – and the fact he is the only signed goalie in Detroit’s system that it drafted, his chances of at least playing in Grand Rapids next season appear strong. There is always the possibility he could earn an NHL job if the Red Wings deal one of their veterans and Larsson lights it up at training camp.

If he’s in Grand Rapids next season, he would join Pioneers teammate Jarid Lukosevicius, who signed with the Griffins on Monday.

We spoke with Larsson before the Frozen Four and have excerpted some parts of that, as well as captain Colin Staub‘s and coach David Carle‘s takes on Larsson’s play down the stretch in the interview below.

©First Line Editorial 2019