11. Rögle BK
27 year old centre Ted Brithén chose to return to his youth team in the year they, for the first time in the club's history, had played two seasons in a row in the top division. Having won the SHL with HV71 the year before, the undrafted Swede may have regretted his decision at New Year when the club lay at the bottom of the league having struggled all autumn. The chance of them escaping the relegation playoff seemed remote.
But something happened to the club from Ängelholm in 2018.
They decided to start winning games and Brithén put in some of the best stats of his career taking 31 points, including 10 goals. He led the internal points competition and he was closely followed by two import players with a great deal of experience in the AHL - American, Bryan Lerg* (412 games) and Canadian, Craig Schira (208 games for the Binghamton Senators). Together the team finished an impressive 11th having fought their way from the brink of the abyss.
*Bryan Lerg in photo.
@ABritOnThinIce1
