Erik Sebastian Collberg (born February 23, 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey right winger who is an unrestricted free agent. He was selected in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012 NHL entry draft.
Playing career
Mariestad Collberg practiced figure skating before starting to play youth hockey for his hometown team Mariestad BoIS HC. Before having played in any of Sweden's major junior leagues Collberg made his senior debut for Mariestad during the 2007–08 season in Division 1—Sweden's third-tier league—in the playoffs for promotion to Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan, on March 8, 2008, two weeks after his 14th birthday, in a 3–4 overtime loss against Valbo HC. After having been spotted by a Canadian coach Collberg was invited to travel to Toronto for a summer tournament together with Canada's best 14 year old players.
During the 2008–09 season, at age 14, Collberg debuted for Mariestad in the J18 Elit, scoring eight goals and eight assist for 16 points in 16 games, which was the highest point total for players under 15-years of age in the league. And in the J20 Elit, scoring four goals and four assists for eight points in 21 games, which was also the highest point total for players under 15-years of age in the league—Collberg being one of only two under 15 players appearing in the league, the other being Simon Erlandsson who played one game. During the season Collberg represented Västergötland's district team for players born 1993, winning gold at the 2008 U16 Scandinavium Cup, with Collberg scoring one goal and one assist in seven games. In the spring he joined Västergötland's 1993-team again in Rikspucken, a one-time tournament for junior players who became too old for TV-pucken when the Swedish Ice Hockey Association lowered the maximum age from 16 to 15. As an under age player, Collberg tied sixth in scoring with seven goals, eleven points, in nine games, as Västergötland finished eight in the tournament.
The following season in the 2009 TV-pucken Collberg finished tenth in the tournament in scoring with six goals, eleven points, in eight games, as Västergötland finished 13th in the tournament. In the J18 Elit, Collberg scored twelve goals, 15 assist for 27 points in 15 games, and in the J20 Elit 24 goals, 14 assists for 38 points in 24 games, which was the most points by any player under 16-years of age. Collberg made his regular season debut as a 15-year old in Division 1, playing four games in total, Collberg scored one goal on February 17, 2010, in his debut, a 2–4 loss at Tingsryds AIF.
Frölunda For the 2010–11 season Collberg signed with Frölunda HC to play for their junior organisation. His first appearance with the club came during the Junior European Trophy, where he led Frölunda to the championship title—scoring the game tying goal and later the game-winning goal in the shootout against Malmö in the final. With six goals and one assist in five games he was selected to the tournament All-Star Team. Collberg then joined the senior team as an extra player for a game against Tappara in the 2010 European Trophy. Collberg made his senior debut in the Elitserien on September 30, 2010, as the then youngest player ever for Frölunda, and the then sixth youngest ever in the league. In total he appeared in five games in Elitserien, scoring no points.
During the autumn Collberg played just three games with the under 18 team in the J18 Elit, scoring two goals and six points. Frölunda finished third in the south division and qualified for J18 Allsvenskan, where Collberg played five games, scoring seven goals, ten points. Frölunda's J18 team finished second in the standings and were directly qualified for the quarter-finals where they faced Leksands IF in a best of three series. Frölunda lost the first game at Leksand, and when the series returned to Gothenburg Collberg who primarily played with the J20 team joined the J18 team, leading them to two wins at home and a place in the semi final. The semifinals and finals were played April 8–9 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Frölunda won their semifinal against Brynäs IF 4–3, and faced off against local Stockholm team Djurgårdens IF in the final, winning the game 2–1, Frölunda became Swedish Champions for under 18 year old's.
Collberg spent the majority of the season with the under 20 team in the J20 SuperElit—Sweden's premier junior league. In 35 games Collberg scored 21 goals, and 23 assist for a total of 44 points, surpassing Victor Rask as the then all-time high point total leader for a sixteen-year olds in the J20 SuperElit. Frölunda finished fifth in the south division, and missed the Top 8 for the first time since its implementation for the 2005–06 season. Frölunda qualified for the playoffs by winning the south continuation series. In the eighth-final Frölunda faced Brynäs IF who finished last in the Top 8, Frölunda won the best of three series in two games after having won 11–0 at home and 5–2 on the road. In the quarter-finals Frölunda faced Rögle BK who were directly qualified after having finished fourth in the Top 8, Frölunda won their home game, lost the first game on the road but won the decisive game three in Ängelholm. The semifinals and finals were played April 9–10 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Frölunda won their semifinal against HV71 2–1. In the final Frölunda faced Skellefteå AIK, Skellefteå scored three goals in the first period, Frölunda tied the game in the second period and in the third while short-handed Collberg scored Frölunda's fourth goal, which turned out to be the championship clinching goal, and later scored Frölunda's fifth goal as well, the final score being 6–3 and Frölunda won the Anton Cup, awarded to the Swedish under 20 champions. In total, Collberg appeared in seven playoff games, scoring four goals and five assists.
For the 2011–12 season Collberg had earned a roster spot with Frölunda's men's team in Elitserien. He played one game in the 2011 European Trophy, scoring a goal in a 5–1 win over Adler Mannheim. In January Collberg received the award for 2011's best male junior by Göteborgs-Posten. On February 4 Frölunda played a home game against Timrå IK, in the second period Timrå's Nichlas Torp delivered a blind-sided hit with his shoulder, away from the play, to Collberg's head. Collberg laid motionless on the ice for a few minutes before managing to get of the ice on his own. Collberg withstood the hit without suffering a concussion, but was unable to continue playing in the game. Torp received a match penalty for charging, and was later suspended for seven games, of which three were converted into a 21,000 SEK fine instead. In total Collberg appeared in 41 Elitserien games, averaging just under seven minutes of ice time per game, without registering any points. Collberg also played 21 regular season games in the J20 SuperElit, scoring nine goals and eight assists, and appeared in two playoff games without registering any points. Having only played one regular season game in J18 Allsvenskan, scoring one goal and one assist, Collberg joined the under 18 team for the playoffs, scoring three goals and three assist in four games, earning him the award as best forward in the playoffs, as Frölunda won the bronze medal in the Swedish under 18 championships with a 4–2 win over Brynäs IF, where Collberg scored one goal.
On May 18, 2012, Collberg signed a one-year professional contract with Frölunda for the 2012–13 season. On June 23, 2012, Collberg was selected in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Collberg scored his first point in Elitserien on September 22 in an away game against Färjestad, when he assisted Jari Tolsa on the game winning 2–3 goal. Frölunda acquired Matt Duchene and Viktor Stålberg during the 2012–13 NHL lockout to replace injured players, and after Collberg only having recorded two assists in 16 games to start the season, and struggling with getting ice time, Collberg was loaned to Örebro HK in the second tier HockeyAllsvenskan on October 23, 2012. Collberg scored in his first game with Örebro, and in total scored six goals and two assists in 15 games. He was then, prior to the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, loaned for one game to his hometown team Mariestad, scoring one goal and one assist in a 5–4 win over Vimmerby HC, helping Mariestad secure a spot in the continuation series AllEttan Södra for the remainder of the season. After the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships Collberg returned to Frölunda and scored his first goal in Elitserien, a game-winning goal in a shootout against Timrå IK's Daniel Bellissimo on January 15, 2013 in Scandinavium. The following game on January 18 at Linköping HC Collberg scored his second goal on a penalty shot and his third goal, again a game winner in a shootout. After having picked up an assist against Brynäs IF on January 22, Collberg for the third game in a row scored the game-winning goal in a shootout. Two days later again against Brynäs, Collberg scored his first non penalty shot goal in 5–2 win on the road. Collberg signed a one-year contract extension on February 6, 2013. Collberg collected his first playoff point with an assisted to Fabian Brunnström in a 2–0 win in game two against Luleå HF in the quarterfinals, and his second point when he assisted Mathis Olimb on Fröllunda's 4–3 overtime winning goal 14:58 into the second overtime period of game four, which tied the best of seven series at 2–2. Frölunda lost the following two games and were eliminated from the playoffs, Collberg missed the last game due to a concussion. In total Collberg appeared in 35 regular season Elitserien games, scoring six goals and three assists, and five playoff games registering two assists. He also played one regular season game and two playoff games in J20 SuperElit, without scoring any points. Collberg finished the season with the Montreal Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Hamilton Bulldogs on a try-out, playing two games without ending up on the score sheet.
Collberg signed a three-year entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens on May 21, 2013, with the intention of Collberg staying in Sweden and honouring his contract with Frölunda. Collberg was troubled by a knee injury and missed most of Frölunda's pre-season games. He attended the Canadiens' main training camp, playing three pre-season games he recorded one assist, before returning to Frölunda. With former national junior team head coach Roger Rönnberg—who had coached Collberg in both the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships—taking over as head coach of Frölunda for the 2013–14 season, many believed Collberg would have a breakthrough season at professional level. He did however not manage to fully convince and had a "choppy season", troubled by a concussion during the winter, Collberg scored three goals and six assists in 40 regular season games, and only played one playoff game before dislocating his shoulder, missing the rest of the playoffs. At age 19 he was in his final year of junior eligibility and only played three games in the J20 SuperElit, scoring five goals and one assist, and one playoff game where he had one assist. On March 5, 2014, the Montreal Canadiens traded Collberg and a conditional 2nd round pick in the 2014 NHL entry draft to the New York Islanders in exchange for left winger Thomas Vanek and a conditional 5th round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Bridgeport