Roger Ronnberg doesn’t know how close Carl Grundstrom is to being ready for the NHL, but the head coach of Frolunda — where Grundstrom has spent most of the last two seasons — does know one thing.



“He was leaving us to really play for the Maple Leafs,” Ronnberg said recently by phone from Sweden. “That was his only mindset.”



For the second straight spring, Grundstrom left Frolunda at the end of the Swedish Hockey League season to join the Toronto Marlies for the playoffs, only this time he won’t be going back to play in Sweden another year. The 20-year-old will play in Toronto next season — most likely for the Marlies in what would be his first AHL season, but perhaps at some point, as a member of the Leafs.



“That’s up to the coaching staff,” Grundstrom said when asked recently how close he was to playing in the NHL. “I just try to do my best and show my best side...