DRAFTED: who plays in the SHL?
An article in parts by @ABritOnThinIce1
PART 6. Players from Europe's other hockey nations
The quality of the SHL often draws in players from other European countries, primarily from the neighbouring Nordic countries of Finland, Norway and Denmark.
In 2017-8 season there were in fact more Finnish players than Americans playing in the SHL. That included Olympian Sakari Manninen, who like Lasch is only 170cm tall, as well as two of the highest scoring backs in the series, Färjestad BK's Jesse Virtanen and Kristian Näkyvä from Linköping HC.
The 27 year old Näkyvä (above) is due to join Manninen at Örebro BK next season. The Finn is unusual in that he was not drafted, but got to sign a one year contact with the Nashville Predators as a free agent in 2015. That meant he got to play one year with their AHL team, Milwaukee Admirals, but then joined Linköping after that, two seasons ago.
The majority of the Norwegian Olympic team play their club hockey in Sweden. That includes forward Mathis Olimb, who like Linköping teammate Näkyvä, has also played one year in the USA as a free agent, but with Rockford Ice Hogs, the AHL development team of Chicago Blackhawks.
Meanwhile, nearly half of Danish players who play in Sweden all play for the same club, Malmö Redhawks. This is not really too much of a surprise, as the city is joined to the Danish capital, Copenhagen, by a bridge. One of those players is 19 year old back, Malte Setkov, who was drafted last year with the Detroit Red Wings and played in the World Junior Championships in Buffalo.
@ABritOnThinIce1
