Rangers" Rookie Hagelin Honed His Skills as a Standout at Michigan During his final semester at the University of Michigan last year, Carl Hagelin, a rookie forward with electrifying speed on the first-place Rangers, was an intern at a private equity company in Ann Arbor. The Web site of the company, Amherst Fund, still includes a brief profile on him: "Hagelin analyzes portfolio holdings, market analyses of individual portfolio companies as well as financial pro-forma modeling analysis. Carl is captain of the University of Michigan hockey team and hopes to play professional hockey after his graduation this spring. He met his goal, quicker than expected. Hagelin was one of the last cuts in the Rangers" training camp, but he made his N.H.L. debut Nov. 25, after only 17 games in the minors. He has eight goals and eight assists in his first 28 games as a Ranger. "I think we've seen the last of Carl here," said Matt Turner, Amherst Fund's chief executive. He's an incredibly bright young man. When his hockey career is over, he'll be an asset to the Manhattan firm smart enough to snap him up. Hagelin's improbable journey to the Rangers started with an improbable journey to Michigan. He is the only Swede to ever play hockey for the Wolverines. The team's coaches did not go to Sweden to recruit him. Hagelin came to them. "We certainly can't claim to have gone out and found him," said Billy Powers, Michigan's associate head coach. He kind of found us. Hagelin's father, Boris, attended Western Michigan and thought an American college might be the best place for his son to get an education and develop as a hockey player. To give his son a taste of the environment, Boris Hagelin enrolled Carl in the Red Berenson hockey camps in Ann Arbor for two summers beginning when Carl was 10. Berenson, a left wing in the N.H.L. for 987 games, has been the head coach at Michigan since 1984. "You get to stay in the dorms," Carl Hagelin said. It felt like a college atmosphere. Berenson's recruiters did not see Hagelin again until he attended the Big Rapids Camp as a 17-year-old, auditioning for a possible spot with a team in the junior-level North American Hockey League. Michigan, Northern Michigan and Ferris State sent scouts. After witnessing Hagelin's quickness and hockey sense, Michigan made a scholarship offer. "His speed was too good to be true," Powers said. We knew that eventually, he would play for us. Around the same time, Christer Rockstrom and Jan Gajdosik, two of the Rangers" European scouts, were lobbying to get Hagelin's name on the club's list as a potential late-round pick in the 2007 N.H.L. draft. "Carl had the speed, but there wasn't much to him," said the Rangers" chief scout Gord Clark, referring to Hagelin's 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame. But when they told me he committed to Michigan, it changed everything. Red Berenson plays an up-tempo system. It often doesn't work out this way with a prospect because N.H.L. teams don't have control, but Carl could not have gone to a better place to develop. Hagelin's adjustment from Sweden to the United States was surprisingly smooth. He was already fluent in English, having learned the language in school and through daily viewings of "The Simpsons" and "That "70s Show." "In Sweden, they broadcast the American shows in English with Swedish subtitles, whereas in many European countries they dub them," Hagelin said. Watching those shows in English was big for me. His impact on his new team was immediate. To test fitness at training camp and during the season, Berenson has his players race up and down the stairs of the cavernous Michigan Stadium. Hagelin won every race of his Wolverines career. Hagelin became such a beloved figure over his four years at Michigan that students flew a Swedish flag, taking up a complete section of seats, at games in Yost Arena during his last two years. Last February on Senior Night, after Hagelin scored the winning goal with 2.9 seconds left in overtime to beat Western Michigan in his final regular-season home game, he was presented with the flag. It was signed by more than 200 of his fellow students. "Having the flag at games made me feel at home," Hagelin said. Getting it as a gift after my last game, that's the kind of gesture you never forget. He was the Wolverines" leading scorer as a junior and senior, and led them to the N.C.A.A. title game last April, which they lost in overtime to Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2. "Carl was a great player for us, a clutch player," said Luke Clendening, a teammate of Hagelin's for three years and now a senior at Michigan. I don't know if it's possible for a college player to accomplish as much as he did here, on and off the ice. The Rangers" coaching staff was not acquainted with Hagelin before September because he was unable to attend the club's off-season conditioning camps for prospects. In short time, he has become Coach John Tortorella's jump-starter whenever one of his forward line combinations fails to click. In the Rangers" 3-0 win over Nashville last week, Hagelin was promoted to an offensive-oriented line alongside Derek Stepan and Marian Gaborik. Hagelin assisted on Dan Girardi's winning goal in the first period. He scored a goal on an assist from Gaborik in the Rangers" 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh two days later. "I put him on lines and he ignites those lines with his speed," Tortorella said. It's dog on bone. After staying in a hotel his first seven weeks with the Rangers, Hagelin was told by management last week to find a place of his own, a sign that he is likely to stay in the N.H.L. for a while. "I was hoping to play a few N.H.L. games this year," Hagelin said. Getting a place in New York won't change my mind-set. I have to prove every day that I belong here. Back in Ann Arbor, the Michigan coaches are attempting to recruit young Swedes, knowing they will never have a player like Hagelin fall into their laps. "We're trying to be active in Sweden," Powers said. I love going to Stockholm. I just haven't been able to convince any top players to choose us over the hope of playing in the Elite League. Maybe Carl's success will open some doors. He set a bar for student-athletes at Michigan that's going to be tough for anyone to match, no matter where they're from.