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Nicklas Backstrom Signs With SHL’s Brynäs IF

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Jul. 28th: According to a team announcement, Brynäs IF has confirmed Backstrom’s signing.

Jul. 27th: Brynäs IF of Sweden’s SHL will hold a press conference on Monday where they’re expected to announce the signing of former NHL center Nicklas Backstrom, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. The news was first reported back in May by Tomas Ros and Hans Abrahamsson of Aftonbladet They mentioned that Backstrom’s deal is expected to run only one-year.

Backstrom played in eight NHL games during the 2023-24 season, and missed the entirety of 2024-25, as he works his way back from hip resurfacing surgery conducted in 2022. The surgery was the culmination of eight years of hip pain and discomfort for Backstrom. He first underwent an arthroscopic surgery in 2015 to identify and remedy causes of hip pain. That helped Backstrom stay on the ice long enough to win a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, but his hip injury took a downturn with flare ups in the 2020-21 season. He’d go on to miss the first two months of the 2021-22 season while looking for non-surgical remedies, but ended up moving forward with a Belgium-based surgery in the following summer.

Backstrom has missed a lofty 234 games over the last four seasons, dating back to 2021-22. That’s 71 percent of the possible 328 games he could have appeared in. He’s made hardy attempts at returning throughout those long-term absences, but ran into continued hip pain and was forced out soon after each return. Those routine exits have been tough to bear given Backstrom still performed at a top level when he maintained good health. He scored 31 points in 47 games of the 2021-22 season, and 21 points in 39 games of the 2022-23 season.

Outside of his near-decade long battle with hip injury, Backstrom’s prowess is hard to ignore. He was the perennial top-line center for the Capitals from 2007 to 2019 – routinely rivaling 20 goals and 70, or 80, points. His career year came early into his career – when he scored 33 goals and 101 points in 82 games of Washington’s 2009-10 campaign, then went on to net six points in four games with Team Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics. But Backstrom was effective for a decade beyond that peak, and will go down in history as the playmaking centerman setting up the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, Alex Ovechkin.

Now, Backstrom will leave behind his NHL legacy to try and return to the ice with his hometown club. He grew up through the Brynäs youth hockey program, and made his professional debut with the club in the 2004-05 season. In total, Backstrom has racked up 66 points in 110 games with the Brynäs clover on his chest. He’ll hope to return to those levels of productivity – or, perhaps first, routine games – with the club next season, after racking up 1,033 points in 1,105 career NHL games since his last league game in Sweden.

Luke Philp Signs With SHL’s Farjestad BK

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Free agent center Luke Philp has signed a contract with Farjestad BK of Sweden’s SHL, per a team release. This marks the first overseas move of Philp’s six-year pro career. He’s only played in the AHL up to this point, across tenures with the Stockton Heat, Rockford IceHogs, and Hershey Bears.

Philp signed with Stockton as a college free agent in 2019. He spent the three years prior as a top forward with the University of Alberta in Canada’s USports leagues, scoring 93 points across 78 total appearances. Philp kept up  his slick offense in his move to the pro flight, netting 19 goals and 31 points in 52 games of his rookie AHL season. He continued to score through a rising role Stockton’s lineup over the next two seasons – 61 points in 96 games – which set Philp up for a opportunistic move when he entered free agency in 2022.

Philp chose to leave Stockton for an improved lineup role in Rockford for the 2022-23 season, marking the Canmore-native’s first time playing for a team south of the border. It proved to be a wise bet – as he blazed his way to 29 goals and 53 points over the course of 60 games. He even earned the first three games of his NHL career – suiting up for two games in January and one in March as an injury fill-in, and recording his first assist.

The momentum seemed to set Philp up for a dominate 2023-24 season – but tragedy struck when he tore his Achilles tendon just a few games into the season. He’d return for a handful of playoff games, but ultimately scored just eight points across 19 total appearances. That halted momentum prompted a move to Hershey for this season. He again fought through injury, even sustaining an injury in the first period of Hershey’s first game of the season. Perhaps it’s that sense of bad luck that will now push Philp to one of Sweden’s top lineups. He’ll join Joakim Nygard, Oskar Steen, and Radim Zohorna as a few of many teammates with NHL and AHL experience.

Ducks Loan Damian Clara, Lucas Pettersson To Brynäs IF

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The Ducks have loaned goalie Damian Clara and forward Lucas Pettersson to the SHL’s Brynäs IF for 2025-26 as they continue their development, the Swedish club announced yesterday.

While Pettersson’s was previously assumed, Clara’s is noteworthy. The Italian netminder signed his entry-level contract last summer, and while the Ducks first loaned him to the SHL’s Färjestäd BK and then the Liiga’s Kärpät for 2024-25, he was a candidate to jump stateside and join the AHL’s San Diego Gulls this season after he played two games there down the stretch.

There’s a bit of a logjam in Anaheim’s goalie pipeline, though. They’re one of the few teams projected to carry three netminders on their NHL roster (Lukáš Dostál, Ville Husso, Petr Mrázek). They also have three goalie prospects under contract who will play for either the Gulls or the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers this year: Vyacheslav Buteyets, Calle Clang, and Tomas Suchanek. That meant there wasn’t a clear path for the promising Clara to get playing time statside next season, so they’ll instead get their youngest signed goaltender more reps overseas.

The 20-year-old Clara has played for Brynäs before, just not in Sweden’s top league. He spent the 2023-24 season there after Anaheim drafted him in the second round, playing a crucial role in helping Brynäs earn promotion from the HockeyAllsvenskan back to the SHL. The 6’6″ goalie posted a .913 SV% in 34 regular-season games before logging a stellar .931 SV% and 1.68 GAA in 11 qualification games to send them back to the top flight.

Brynäs had an exceptionally successful first campaign back in the SHL, winning the regular-season title and finishing as runners-up in the playoffs. Clara now hopes to bolster their encore performance. He’ll share the crease with former NHL netminder Collin Delia, and another former NHLer, Erik Källgren, is on their roster but is expected to be out until January after undergoing hip surgery.

He and Pettersson, who the Ducks nabbed in the second round of the 2024 draft, will get to play with former Anaheim winger Jakob Silfverberg. This will be Pettersson’s first season in Brynäs after the 19-year-old posted a 9-10–19 scoring line in 26 games for Östersunds IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan last season.

Charles Hudon Signs With Djurgardens IF

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July 23: Djurgarden officially announced Hudon’s signing this morning. It’s a two-year contract, keeping him with the club through the 2026-27 season.

July 22: Minor-league scoring winger Charles Hudon is heading overseas for the second time in his career. Expressen’s Johan Svensson relays that the veteran forward is expected to join Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League in the coming days.

Hudon, 31, hasn’t been on an NHL contract or played an NHL game since going pointless in nine appearances with the Avalanche in 2022-23. He’s spent the last two seasons with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on a minor-league deal.

In Ontario, the 5’10” Hudon has continued to produce at an elite level, clicking at nearly a point per game with a 40-78–118 scoring line in 123 games. A fifth-round pick in 2012 by the Canadiens, Hudon has always been an electric scorer at the AHL level, posting 426 points in 503 games there in parts of nine seasons, but has rarely managed to stick around in an NHL lineup despite playing a physical game and logging average possession impacts when given the chance.

Hudon has 134 NHL games to his name, 125 of which came with Montreal. More than half of those were as a 23-year-old in the 2017-18 campaign, when he recorded a career-high 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 points in 72 games for the Habs while averaging 14:02 per contest. He didn’t stick around in a top-nine role the following year, though, only scoring five points in 32 games before essentially falling off the NHL radar.

The Quebec native last played in Europe during the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign, scoring 32 points in 33 games for Switzerland’s Lausanne HC. He’ll now join a Djurgarden team looking to make waves in the SHL after gaining promotion from the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

Mathias Emilio Pettersen Signs With SHL’s Djurgårdens IF

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After a few productive years in the American Hockey League, forward Mathias Emilio Pettersen is taking his career back to Europe. According to a team announcement, Pettersen has signed a two-year contract with the SHL’s Djurgårdens IF.

Despite being a native of Manglerud, Norway, most of Pettersen’s playing career has come in the United States. After a few decent years in the United States Hockey League, the Calgary Flames selected Pettersen with the 167th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft. Instead of joining a Canadian junior program or returning home to Norway, Pettersen committed to the NCAA’s University of Denver, beginning play in the 2018-19 season.

He was nearly a point-per-game player with the Pioneers, scoring 19 goals and 65 points in 76 career games, with a +9 rating. Unfortunately, the University of Denver was eliminated in the Frozen Four by the University of Massachusetts during Pettersen’s freshman campaign, and the tournament was cancelled the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, the Flames believed Pettersen was ready for the next step, and he began playing for their AHL affiliate at the time, the Stockton Heat, beginning in the 2020-21 campaign. Over the next four seasons, he became a quality secondary scorer for the Heat and eventually the Calgary Wranglers, scoring 45 goals and 114 points in 203 games. Calgary eventually traded Pettersen to the Dallas Stars at the 2023-24 trade deadline for Riley Damiani.

His scoring pace noticeably decreased after he joined the Stars, which likely contributed to his move to Europe. In 82 games, all with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, Pettersen scored 13 goals and 37 points with a -11 rating.

Pettersen will join an exciting team in the SHL, at the very least. The 2025-26 season will be Djurgårdens IF’s first back in the SHL after earning a promotion at the end of last season. They’ll be led by a pair of first-round picks from the 2025 NHL Draft, Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks) and Victor Eklund (New York Islanders).

Snapshots: Kopitar, Silovs, Dello, Emilio Pettersen

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Kings center Anze Kopitar is in the final season of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension.  However, while the team is hoping to get a new deal in place for Adrian Kempe, that won’t be the case for the captain.  In an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio earlier this week (Twitter link), GM Ken Holland indicated that Kopitar’s camp has indicated that he isn’t looking to sign a new deal at this time and intends to take a year-by-year approach moving forward.  The 37-year-old has played 1,454 games over his career in Los Angeles but is at the stage where it makes sense to assess things one year at a time.  Last season, Kopitar was still quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 46 assists in 81 games along with nine points in seven playoff contests.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Before he was traded to Pittsburgh, the Oilers showed interest in goaltender Arturs Silovs, relays Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins. However, the Canucks indicated that they would not move him to Edmonton, their division rival.  Knowing that Silovs was likely to be claimed on waivers in training camp, Vancouver elected to send him to the Penguins for a fourth-round pick and prospect Chase Stillman.  But the fact that Edmonton was discussing Silovs suggests that GM Stan Bowman is keeping an eye on the goaltending market heading into training camp.
  • UFA defenseman Tory Dello has inked a one-year deal with Karlovy Vary in Czechia, per a team release. The 28-year-old started the season in Detroit’s system but was traded to New Jersey just after the NHL trade deadline (but before the AHL one, keeping him eligible to play down the stretch).  Between the two teams, Dello had eight points in 41 games; this will be his first stint overseas after spending the last five years in the AHL.
  • UFA winger Mathias Emilio Pettersen is expected to sign with SHL Djurgarden, reports Hockey News SE’s Mattias Persson. The 25-year-old spent last season with AHL Texas, collecting nine goals and 20 assists in 70 regular season games while adding three points in 14 playoff contests.  However, Emilio Pettersen wasn’t eligible to be tendered a qualifying offer last month as he qualified for Group Six unrestricted free agency and it appears he’ll be using that to take a chance at playing in a new league.

Michal Svrcek Expected To Remain In The SHL

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At least one prospect from the Detroit Red Wings’ 2025 draft class has decided where he will play next season. According to a report from Mattias Persson of Hockey News (Sweden), forward Michal Svrcek will remain with the SHL’s Brynäs IF for another year.

For clarification, although there was a non-zero chance he’d make Detroit’s roster next season, there was no expectation he was going to. The OHL’s Windsor Spitfires had drafted Svrcek in the 2025 OHL Import Draft, which would have only required Red Wings’ staff to cross the Ambassador Bridge to watch him play.

The Red Wings selected Svrcek with the 119th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft after spending a large chunk of the season with Brynäs IF J20 of the J20 Nationell. He performed well for his age group, scoring 14 goals and 30 points in 30 games, with a +9 rating. Despite the team not advancing very far in the postseason, the Zilina, Slovakia native performed well, scoring two goals and adding four points in three postseason contests.

Svrcek spent a brief period with Brynäs IF’s professional team, scoring one goal and three points in 17 games, with a -1 rating. His lack of size was noticeable, but he sustained his high motor and remained a nuisance against the opposing team’s defense.

Detroit is making a gamble that Svrcek will be better served in the SHL, which is widely regarded as the second-best league outside of North America. There will likely be some growing pains, but it’ll be a shorter step to the NHL if he continues his development. In an interview on the Slovak television channel TVNoviny, Svrcek was quoted, saying, “This week I agreed with my agent and Detroit’s management that I will stay in Brynäs for another season, where I will try to start the season in the A-team.”

Hurricanes Promote Daniel Bochner Among Multiple Staff Changes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced multiple staff and structure changes across their hockey operations and management departments. Most notably, they’ve hired Daniel Bochner as a full-time development coach, after he spent the last two seasons in a part-time coaching role with both the Hurricanes and the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. Bochner will move to Raleigh, from Russia, for this hire and work with both the NHL and AHL lineups.

Bochner has built up a rich career across the hockey world. He was originally born in Toronto, but began playing for Israel’s U18 club at the age of 15. He joined the club in their debut at the World Junior Championship Division-III tournament in 2001, and debuted with the country’s men’s roster at the World Championship Division-II tournament later that year. Bochner continued to be a fixture of Israel’s national roster through 2011, and racked up three points across 13 total appearances at the World Championship.

Bochner retired from his playing career in 2011, and turned towards head coaching with the Don Mills Flyers’ AAA club in 2013. He led the Flyers’ 2000-birth year through their 14U, 15U, and 16U seasons. Current Utah Mammoth forward Jack McBain served as the team’s captain in all three seasons. Bochner left Don Mills for a youth coach role with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan in 2016, briefly returned to coach the Vaughan Kings 14U AAA team in 2017, then moved full-time into a development coach role with SKA St. Petersburg in 2018.

His role with SKA included serving as a development coach for the KHL and MHL (junior) clubs, as well as with Russia’s National Men’s roster. He also served as an assistant coach for the KHL club from 2020 to 2023. Bochner’s role spanned some impressive rosters, and allowed him to work closely with top NHL skaters and prospects – including Yaroslav Askarov, Ivan Demidov, Matvei Michkov, Kirill Marchenko, and Hurricanes prospect Timur Kol. Bochner will now leave seven years with SKA behind to work full-time with Carolina’s top two rosters.

The Hurricanes have also announced that CBA-specialist Earl Schwartz has been promoted to the role of CBA and Salary Cap Analyst. He will the title of Compliance Assistant after three years in the role. Schwartz began his niched career publicly, writing CBA-related analysis for LeafsNation and a personal newsletter. Now, he’ll take another step forward in a Hurricanes organization that’s seen multiple staff take unconventional paths into their roles.

Carolina has further promoted Jorge Alves into the role of head equipment manager. He will take over for Bob Gorman, who has worked with the Hurricanes since 1976 and will continue to support the team in a reduced role. Alves will be joined by Patrick Budds, who has been promoted to assistant equipment manager from his role of equipment assistant. Filling that latter role will be CJ Reif, who worked with the Chicago Wolves last season.

The Hurricanes have also hired Zach Ellenthal and Dennis King as pro scouts. Ellenthal spent the last four seasons with the SHL’s Rogle BK, while King previously served in the Edmonton Oilers’ analytics department. King will join former Oilers peer Tyler Dellow in Carolina.

Carolina rounds out the hires with changes in their athletic training and nutrition rooms. Koryd Lavimoniere will step into an assistant trainer role after serving as the head trainer of the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds last season; and Kristin Pirigyi will move into a newly-created, full-time nutritionist role after previously serving as a nutrition consultant.

Photo courtesy of David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports.

2025 International Signings Recap: SHL

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Weeks into NHL free agency and months into most European leagues’ signing windows, it’s a good time to review the notable action that has seen NHL-experienced players find new homes in other countries. We’re starting with the Swedish Hockey League with signings that have come across the wire in the last two months:

F Kieffer Bellows – one year, Brynas IF: Bellows heads overseas for the first time after playing in four NHL organizations in the last three seasons (link to signing article).

D Gabriel Carlsson – three years, Farjestad BK: The 2015 first-round pick lands some stability in his home country after spending last season with Switzerland’s EV Zug. The physical shutdown lefty last played in the NHL with the Capitals in 2022-23 and only managed 81 career games despite appearing in seven straight seasons, mainly with the Blue Jackets, who drafted him No. 29 overall. He has previous SHL experience with Linköping HC in his teenage years and also played for Växjö Lakers HC in the 2023-24 season, where he scored 26 points with a +18 rating in 45 games.

G Collin Delia – one year, Brynas IF: Delia, 31, served as the Oilers’ fourth-stringer last season and had a .906 SV% in 28 games for AHL Bakersfield (link to signing article).

F Gabriel Fortier – two years, Leksands IF: Fortier was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after playing the last five seasons in the Lightning organization, mostly with AHL Syracuse. The 2018 second-round pick played 11 NHL games across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, scoring once, but didn’t see action in the last two years. His scoring has steadily declined, posting only 19 points in 50 games last year, so it’s not particularly surprising to see him head overseas.

D Mark Friedman – two years, Rogle BK: A solid press box option on NHL rosters for a few years, Friedman was mostly relegated to AHL action last season and will now look for more stability and ice time overseas (link to signing article).

D Robert Hagg – one year, Brynas IF: Hagg spent last season on a two-way deal with the Golden Knights, spending most of the year in the AHL but getting into a pair of NHL contests (link to signing article).

G Magnus Hellberg – three years, Djurgardens IF: Hellberg jumps back to his homeland after spending last season as the Stars’ No. 3 option and starter for AHL Texas, posting a .904 SV% in 41 games (link to signing article).

F Aleksi Heponiemi – two years, HV71: Heponiemi, whose NHL rights are still owned by the Panthers, hasn’t played for them since the 2022-23 campaign (link to signing article).

F Jere Innala – one year, Frolunda HC: Innala’s NHL sample ends after one season with the Avalanche, going pointless in 17 games for them in 2024-25 (link to signing article).

F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby – three years, Brynas IF: Jonsson-Fjallby last played in the NHL with the Jets in 2023-24 and spent all of last season on assignment to AHL Manitoba (link to signing article).

D Michal Kempny – one year, Brynas IF: A member of the Capitals team that won the 2018 Stanley Cup, Kempny has been in Europe since mutually terminating his contract with the Kraken at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. He spent the last three years in his home country with HC Sparta Prague of the Czech Extraliga. Although he was a top point producer early on, he recorded just eight points in 24 games last year. He turns 35 in September and will now look to play a supporting role on the reigning SHL regular season champions.

F Justin Kloos – two years, HV71: It’s a lateral move for the 31-year-old, who’s already spent the last four years in the SHL with Leksand. The speedy but undersized forward has two NHL games to his name, one each with the Wild and Ducks in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns, respectively. He was an undrafted free agent signed by the Wild out of the University of Minnesota in 2017 and was a strong AHL producer for a few years. However, he has been overseas since 2019, also spending one year in Russia with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. He scored 47 goals and 106 points in 177 games with Leksand.

F Janne Kuokkanen – four years, Malmö Redhawks: Kuokkanen, 27, has alternated between Switzerland and Sweden since heading to Europe in 2022, but now lands some stability with Malmö. He registered over a point per game for them previously in the 2023-24 season. The Finnish native made 119 NHL appearances for the Hurricanes and Devils from 2017-22, scoring 14 goals and 46 points with a -26 rating.

F Karson Kuhlman – one year, Rogle BK: Kuhlman has nearly 150 games of NHL experience with the Bruins, Kraken, and Jets. He spent last season in Finland with Lukko, where he put together a 21-25–46 scoring line in 60 games (link to signing article).

D Paul Ladue – one year, Rogle BK: LaDue stays in Sweden’s top flight after spending last season with MoDo, which has been relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan for 2025-26. The 32-year-old is a veteran of 70 NHL games with the Kings and Islanders from 2016 to 2022. Last year was his first overseas stint after being a consistent farmhand in the Isles’ system for AHL Bridgeport. He scored 17 points with a minus-seven rating in 50 games for MoDo.

D Gustav Lindstrom – five years, Djurgardens IF: The 2017 second-round pick spent last season in the Montreal organization with AHL Laval, recording 11 points and a +18 rating in 42 games (link to signing article).

F Sean Malone – two years, Orebro HK: A longtime Sabres farmhand with two games of NHL experience with them and the Predators, Malone last saw NHL ice with Nashville in 2020-21 and last played in North America for AHL Rochester in 2022-23. The 6’0″ Buffalo native has played in Switzerland for the previous two years, scoring 20 goals and 67 points in 90 National League games for the SCL Tigers.

F Lukas Rousek – two years, HV71: Rousek, 26, did not see NHL ice with the Sabres in 2024-25 after making 17 appearances for them across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns (link to signing article).

F Joe Snively – one year, Djurgardens IF: Snively, long a top AHL producer, heads over to help the newly-promoted Djurgarden after spending last season on a two-way deal with the Red Wings (link to signing article).

F Jesse Ylonen – two years, Djurgardens IF: Ylonen chose Djurgarden after not getting into any NHL action last season with either the Lightning or Predators, instead recording 35 points in 66 games across their AHL affiliates (link to signing article).

Blackhawks Sign Anton Frondell

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July 15: As was foretold, Frondell put pen to paper on his entry-level deal today, the team announced. The deal carries the maximum entry-level cap hit of $975K.

July 12: So far, only four of 32 first-round picks have signed their entry-level contracts.  That number should soon be increasing as Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom reports that the Blackhawks will be signing Anton Frondell to his first contract early next week.

The 18-year-old was the third overall pick last month, giving Chicago what they hope will be another future high-end center to have behind Connor Bedard down the road.

Frondell spent the majority of last season at the Allsvenskan level, a second-division professional league.  He played in 29 games with Djurgarden and fared quite well, notching 11 goals and 14 assists in 29 games.  Frondell also notched seven points in 16 playoff games, earning his team a promotion to the SHL for 2025-26.

Frondell has one year left on his contract back home and it’s expected he will remain there next season instead of making the jump to come to North America.  Nordstrom relays that the youngster isn’t expected to attend training camp with Chicago to focus on the start of the SHL regular season which begins on September 13th.

Once the season in Sweden comes to an end, Frondell would then be eligible to join Chicago, potentially suiting up for them for a handful of games down the stretch if Djurgarden doesn’t have a long playoff run.  As long as he plays in nine or fewer games for the Blackhawks next season, an outcome that seems likely, Frondell’s deal will slide and still have three years remaining on it heading into 2026-27.

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