Tobias Enstrom will finally suit up and play hockey this fall.
It has been reported by various media outlets via Twitter, that the Winnipeg Jets' defenseman has signed a contract with Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian Hockey League. This news was later confirmed by our friend Jon Hagqvist of www.allehanda.se and Salzburg's official website.
Salzburg's head coach is also delighted to have signed the new Swedish defender: "We're trying to bring good international players with passion and dreams to Salzburg. Tobias is a prime example." Tobias Enström has already arrived in Salzburg and is set to complete his first ice training session late this afternoon. Tomorrow, Tuesday, he will join the rest of the team, who have a day off from training today. The Swede could make his Erste Bank Eishockey Liga debut in Friday's away game in Dornbirn. The Red Bulls have agreed a contract with Tobias Enströmthrough to the end of the current season (with NHL exit clause).Enstrom, if you remember, was slated to join Modo of the Swedish Elite League before a murky transfer agreement between the league and Swedish government delayed his signing. It was then announced that only if a player was injured could their roster spot be replaced by an NHL veteran. And so Tobias Enstrom waited patiently for the other shoe to drop.
Unfortunately, that never happened. After spending a few weeks skating with Modo's senior club, he opted to join their junior program for practices. As recently as last week, Enstrom had stopped participating in Modo practices altogether, presumably as he looked for work elsewhere.
Red Bull Salzburg roster features former NHL notable Alex Auld and head coach Pierre Page. They are 6-7-1-0 through the early stages of the season and only three standings points behind Thomas Vanek's EC Graz. We should expect Enstrom to be inserted into their line-up sometime this week.
