Sources: Ninjas in Pyjamas Plan to Keep Draken for Potential Return to Active Roster

Swedish Counter-Strike organization Ninjas in Pyjamas will likely retain AWPer William "draken" Sundin and reinstate him into the active lineup at a later date, according to sources close to the player and organization.

At least three teams have inquired about draken's availability in the few days since NiP announced the acquisition of Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson, only to have been told that draken will remain with Ninjas in Pyjamas. One source suggested the current lineup of lekr0, Christopher "GeT_RighT" Alesund, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, Fredrik "REZ" Sterner and Dennis "dennis" Edman is in a “trial” phase, to allow veteran players on the team a final opportunity to elevate their level of play.

NiP ​announced the signing of Lekr0 earlier this week to replace draken on the active roster. Dennis will likely assume AWPing duties for NiP while draken spends time on the bench. Lekr0 is widely considered one of the best fraggers in all of Sweden with promising rifle skills and an exceptional mastery of the deagle. He has spent time on all of the top Swedish rosters in recent history, but was most successful with Fnatic when the team won both IEM One: Katowice and WESG over the span of two weeks earlier this year.

The first test for the new NiP lineup will be qualifying for the FACEIT Major: London through the Minor system. The team has failed to qualify for a Valve-sponsored ​CS:GO Major in every attempt since its group stage exit at ESL One Cologne 2016. The organization's last tournament victory came at IEM Oakland (for the second year in a row) in November.

Representatives from Ninjas in Pyjamas did not initially respond to request for comment.