I was going to sit on this one until the SHL regular season begins–because I’m nervous for the young man–but the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood noted that Noah Dower Nilsson is back in preseason SHL action after undergoing surgery on both shoulders last season, so:
Dower Nilsson’s comeback started off slow Friday against Leksands IF. He didn’t record a point in a 5-3 Frölunda win, evidently getting used to live games after such a long time off. Saturday against Farjestad, Dower Nilsson factored more into the offense. Down 5-2, his blocked shot wound up finding teammate Hannes Hellberg to cut down the deficit in the third period. Frölunda lost 6-3.
This season, Dower Nilsson hopes to bounce back from such an injury-riddled campaign as last season. He didn’t start his season until December after the Red Wings recommended both he and his brother Liam Dower Nilsson (a 2021 fifth round Detroit pick) get surgery to repair torn labrums over the 2023 summer. When he came back, Noah Dower Nilsson only played a handful of games before tearing his labrum again, this time on his right shoulder. After trying to rehab the injury and salvage the season, he ended up in surgery yet again back in February.
Noah also apparently suffered an undisclosed injury in the one game where Frolunda lent the sniping forward to IF Bjorkloven of the HockeyAllsvenskan (the Swedish second division), where brother and play-maker Liam Dower Nilsson plays. They started the game on the same line, but Noah didn’t finish the game (I’m fairly certain he got a concussion, but I can’t confirm that). Off to surgery he went.
The stress of such bad injury luck forced him to take a step back and stay patient during his recovery process.
“You get drafted and want to play hockey and show more of me for the team, for the (draft) choice,” Dower Nilsson told The Hockey News back in May. “So it was tough, but the important thing is to be patient and staying in the right mindset.”
Continued; there’s a lot on the line for both Liam and Noah this upcoming season. If I’m correct, this is the last year that the Red Wings have Noah’s rights, so he’s got to play very well in the HockeyAllsvenskan and earn a contract, while Noah wants to break into Frolunda’s men’s team lineup full-time and become a regular player.
That’s not going to be easy for either player, and I hope that both Liam and Noah have good seasons ahead.
