Robin Lehner forced into bankruptcy

According to a Swedish language report from Aftobladet, veteran NHL goaltender Robin Lehner has been forced to file for personal bankruptcy protection after a failed business deal in his native Sweden.

The report indicates that Lehner owes $5 million in overdue loan payments for some sort of "asylum accommodation" project that either wasn't completed or at least wasn't repaid. I'm going to assume that "asylum accommodation" is some sort of strange Swedish to English translation error, because I don't suspect that Lehner was funding homes for international asylum seekers. Sorry,  can't add much on that.

From Aftonbladet (translated from Swedish):

The lender ultimately filed for bankruptcy for Robin Lehner.

The hope was that Lehner would do the right thing by paying the debt, but that has not happened despite several attempts, says Jonas Edward.

Clas Jörgensen, new representative for Lehner in the case, says that the decision will be appealed.

To me, it seems quite obvious that Robin Lehner is not insolvent. He has three years left on a contract worth a total of approximately $150 million and has the ability to pay, says Clas Jörgensen.

In an insolvency assessment, you have to have a forward-looking perspective and it feels quite obvious that he has had the opportunity to pay this. Therefore, he should not be declared bankrupt.

The Vegas Golden Knights' netminder is appealing the decision and maintains that the creditor has been repaid.

More from Aftonbladet (again, translated):

According to the verdict, Lehner has repaid half a million of the debt, but not the rest of the sum. The loan has an annual interest rate of 30 percent, and the total debt is now just over five million kroner (data from the Norwegian Kronofogden).

According to Robin Lehner, the creditor in question has already been compensated. The default judgment has been announced even though Robin has not received the documents and the case has not been tried. We are currently investigating what legal action can be taken. I am therefore unable to make any further comments.

The company for which Lehner entered into a surety bond was declared bankrupt in 2018.

Obviously, I don't know the first thing about bankruptcy law in Sweden, but I can't imagine that this is a good scenario for Lehner to be in. He had offseason hip surgery and will miss the entire 2022-23 NHL season rehabbing for the 2023-24 campaign. Here's hoping his legal team can keep this news from being too big of a distraction for him.