Several NHL-signed Swedish players have left their SHL or Hockey Allsvenskan teams to prepare for the 2020-2021 NHL season in North America, but Expressen/GT.se’s Adam Johansson reports that several big-name players still aren’t certain when they’re going to leave for the NHL, including Red Wings signee Mathias Brome.
What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
The big stars are leaving–returning to the NHL
All indications are that the NHL season will start in mid-January.
This means that more and more NHL-loaned players in the SHL and Hockeyallsvenskan are leaving the country.
But for some, there remains a great deal of uncertainty.
“I still know nothing,” says Mathias Brome.
This week barely began before two SHL teams announced that their NHL loans had done their jobs for this season.
Frolunda says goodbye to Theodor Lennstrom, and Farjestad has waved goodbye to its big star Joakim Nygard.
Both players are owned by the Edmonton Oilers.
“I feel that I’m going over in good shape, and it’s good for the upcoming camp. But it’s sad to leave Farjestad because I love playing here,” says Nygard to the team’s website.
In the Hockeyallsvenskan, several players have been recalled by their NHL teams. Most recently, MODO Hockey lost both Aleksi Heponiemi and Martin Kaut to their respective teams’ training camps.
Although for some, it remains unclear when they will cross the Atlantic.
Lias Andersson, of HV71, has been told that he can go at any time, but Fredrik Handemark, of Malmo, and Orebro players Mathias Brome and Rodrigo Abols still know nothing.
“No, nothing yet,” says Mathias Brome, who has his next game with Orebro on Thursday.
If he doesn’t leave for Detroit by then.
Nils Hoglander, of Rogle, Linus Sandin, of HV71, Tobias Bjornfot (at the World Junior Championship) of Djurgarden are other players in the SHL who have not yet received the go-ahead to go over to North America.
Rogle general manager Chris Abbott has recently had close contact with Vancouver, to whom Hoglander belongs.
“What we heard from Vancouver is that they want to start their training camp on January 3rd, but I don’t think it’s been nailed down yet. He must be in North America for quarantine for 14 days before that. So it’s likely that he’ll play the next game against Farjestad and maybe the one Thursday against Malmo,” says Abbott.
