"You have to earn your place in the team": Arvid Costmar hopes to be latest example of Linköping development program

(Editor's note: The following is a guest post by Ronnie Rönnkvist on HockeySverige that has been translated for EP Rinkside. You can read the original article in Swedish by following this link)

Year after year, Linköping HC prioritizes development for the players on their roster that are NHL draft picks. Centre Arvid Costmar, a Vancouver Canucks seventh-round draft pick in 2019, is no exception.

Costmar is originally from Motala, where for many people, it's mainly about the sport of bandy. Bandy, for those who aren't familiar, is a popular sport in Sweden that is a bit like a hybrid between hockey and soccer, with two opposing nets and a red ball roughly the size of a puck that players strike with a billy club.

"I actually played bandy for a very long time. Grandfather and my uncles have been