Beloved former Flyer Lindblom returns to his Swedish club

Oskar Lindblom is headed back to where his impressive climb all started.

The former Flyers winger signed a contract Wednesday with Brynäs IF in the SHL, Sweden’s top pro league. Lindblom came up with Brynäs IF, going from a fifth-round NHL draft pick almost 10 years ago and developing into one of the Flyers’ better prospects in 2017.

He was the SHL Forward of the Year in 2016-17, his final season with Brynäs IF before coming to North America.

The Swedish native went on to play parts of five seasons for the Flyers and won the city over in his courageous fight against Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue around the bones.

At 23 years old, Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in December 2019. In July 2020, he rung the bell on the 5th floor of the Abramson Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital to signify the completion of his treatments.

Lindblom, now 27, has been cancer-free ever since and even returned to the Flyers’ lineup in the middle of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs that September.

After two more seasons with the Flyers, Lindblom returned to Philadelphia in October 2022 with the visiting Sharks.

“I feel like all of the sports together, it’s just a big family here,” Lindblom said before receiving a standing ovation from the fans and Flyers. “You can have downs and ups, but they’re always going to be there for you. Whatever it is, they’re going to cheer for you. It was a great time for me here and the fans were awesome to me.”

Lindblom spent the majority of this season playing for San Jose’s AHL affiliate in the final year of his two-year deal.