14. Timrå IK

Timrå IK may be bottom of the table, but have had an incredible month in front of goal. 25 year old local boy Anton Wedin (above) climbing up to an impressive third place on Total Points as well as earning his first ever international caps for Sweden.

Meanwhile, teammate and former Linköping HC forward, Henrik Törnqvist, topping the team's points tally in December with 9 points (2G+7A) putting the 22 year old on track for his best ever season in the SHL. Despite this, the team have won no matches in regulation and only three in overtime something that will have to change if they are to avoid the drop back into the Allsvenskan.

13. Mora IK

Mora IK find themselves in the same place at New Year that they finished in last season, 13th, a position they will do very well to improve on given the quality of the other teams in the SHL and the resources available to the Dalarna club. But a repeat of this month, with win four out of eight, will certainly help.

It is their North American imports who are helping in front of goal. At 5'8" ( 173 cm), this month's top scorer, 26 year old Canadian Kevin Gagne is typical of the type of player of can succeed in Europe. He has 133 games in the AHL on his CV and is now in his fourth season in Sweden, three of which have been with Mora IK. He is on course for his best points scoring season as a senior, especially if he can keep up scoring a Point Per Game as he has done in December.

Gagne and teammate Andrew Rowe (above) were on the same roster at Anaheim Ducks' AHL development team, the Norfolk Admirals in 2012/3. Interestingly, Frölunda Indians' Ryan Lasch and Max Friberg were also on this team alongside current Växjö Lakers' keeper Viktor Fasth. Like Gagne, the 33 year old American, Rowe is also on course for his best scoring season in Sweden and his 7 points (4G+3A) in December should be the confidence boost he needs as 2019 starts.

Last year, netminder Christian Engstrand was a key factor to Mora's victory over Leksand IF in the SHL qualification matches. But the club have needed another solution after as he is sidelined due to concussion after taking a puck in the head. Great scouting has brought in the 2013 Nashville Predators drafted, Finnish keeper, Janne Juvonen from Austria. At 24 he has already played four seasons in Liiga for Pelicans and could well establish himself in the SHL with the quality he has shown over the past month. This leaves the Dalarna club with the luxury of having three first choice keeper's on their roster as they battle to stay in the SHL this year.

12. Örebro HK

Örebro find themselves exactly where they finished last season, in 12th one step up from the relegation zone. They are nine points below Rögle BK, but crucially top of the bottom three, in no small part due to the talented American import, Aaron Palushaj (above). Despite the team's position, he has climbed up to second place in the Total Points table with 25 points (10G+15A) only one behind leader, Jacob Lilja from Djurgården IF.

A high performer in the AHL, Palushaj was drafted in 2007 in Round 2 by St Louis Blues in the same year, round and club as Frölunda's Simon Hjalmarsson. The former Brynäs player's month can be summed up in that he scored a impressive point per game but is second in the whole league for penalty minutes. The frustration of being a top player in a team that is not performing well bubbled over after the match against Timrå IF where he received a match penalty after the game was over for Abuse of the Officials.

11. Skellefteå AIK

Two wins in the whole month of December and 11th in the table - that is, not in the playoffs - for the team that has been in seven of the last eight finals. They are 13 points from the top position and only nine from the relegation scrap. It just doesn't seem believable, is this the end of the dominance of the greatest club of the SHL era?

The thing is they are still a great goal scoring team. Bud Holloway (above), who played his only NHL game for the Montreal Canadiens in 2015, is on track for his best season since re-joining the Swedish club three years ago. He led the team with seven points (1G+6A) in December. Meanwhile, 21 year old Swede, Andreas Wingerli, is having his best ever points scoring season and was the league's highest scorer in the month with six goals. And 36 year old Joakim Lindström is still in fifth place on the league's Total Points, just two behind the leader.

So if there is any weakness with the club is is perhaps at the back. But both netminders, Mantas Armalis and Gustaf Lindvall, are not playing badly - if you look at their career as a whole. But the SHL is a tough place to be a keeper. Since the start of the SHL in 2013/4 all winners of the Top Keeper's Award have over 92% SVS. With save percentages below that this season, Armalis and Lindvall are currently ranked at 9th and 12th respectively in a league.

But all this has not added up to winning games.

Skellefteå AIK have a track record of coming good in the playoffs and even with the current dip in form it would take a brave man to bet against them improving and being up in the mix in April.

10. Rögle BK

The club from Ängelholm may only have got one win in regulation but that, together with two overtime wins, keeps them where they want to be - out of the relegation battle (by 13 points) and in with a chance of playoff hockey, currently with a two point cushion over 11th placed Skellefteå.

Their top scorer is 23 year Swede, Leon Bristedt (above) who gained 5 points (4G+1A) in December and is currently lying in 15th overall in Total Points. Whoever scouted the youngest should think about asking for a raise as he might qualify for one of the best signings of the year. A member of the junior squad at Linköping HC, he has just finished four years in the NCAA at the University of Minnesota where he was one of the team's top scorers and last year got to play alongside the USA's top scorer in the Junior World Championship last year, Casey Mittelstadt, who is now at Buffalo Sabres.

Also scoring five points, all assists, during December was homegrown returnee, Mattias Sjögren. The 31 year old has played in the AHL, KHL and NLA but has been out with concussion for nearly a year. He is finally back on the ice and has played ten 10 games for the club in 2018.

Rögle have also signed an American player, who has made an immediate impact for the club with four points (2G+2A) in just four games. 26 year old Trevor Mingoia has played a handful of games in the AHL but was snapped up by the Ängelholm club after an impressive start to his first season in Sweden at Västerviks IK in Hockey Allsvenskan where he had a 0.92 PPG.

These three could be part of the club recipe for success to finally establish themselves firmly as an SHL outfit.

Before the next round of the SHL starts on 5 January we’re going to take a quick look at some of the teams outside the top six, starting with HV71 in ninth and Djurgården IF in eighth and ninth position.

The best of the rest

HV71 have the best team results from December with six wins out of eight games including four in a row at the end of the month taking them up to ninth place.

That has partly been due to having the league's top keeper in Jonas Gunnarsson (above) with a 93.57 SVS% on the season and former Djurgården IF forward Markus Ljungh scoring more than a Point Per Game this month with 9 points.

Ljungh's former team have really struggled since the groin injury to Jacob Josefson (pictured) which saw him miss eight games from the middle of November. Since then the Stockholm club have only won four of 11 games, slumped to eighth place and the former New Jersey Devil has not gained a single point despite having more than a Point Per Game before the injury. So whilst Emil Bemström rips it up at the Junior Worlds in Canada, back home the Leksing's club are in desperate need of his services before the Columbus Blue Jackets follow up on their 2017 draft choice.

7. Brynäs IF

Just like last year, Brynäs have started so badly at the beginning of the season that the manager has been sacked. November 2018 saw last year's hero, Tommy Sjödin, get the boot and assistant coach, Magnus Sundqvist has stepped into the role. And the results in December can justify the change with five wins out of eight matches.

2018 Junior World Championship Silver medalist, Jesper Boqvist, continues to find the net with seven points (3G+4A) this month and finds himself in 7th place in the league's Total Points competition. Already drafted by New Jersey Devils, in November Boqvist also played his first international matches at senior level with teammate, Joel Kellman. The 24 year old Kellman (pictured) was playing the first international matches of his career, reward for being one of Brynäs' top scorers this year with 6 points in December and sitting in 9th on Total Points just one point behind 20 year old, Boqvist.

The second best team in December, it was not just the forwards who have been on top form but also both the keepers who, if you look at this festive month alone, have staggering save percentages; that is 94.62% for the Philadelphia Flyers drafted, Joacim Eriksson and 93.37% for the 33 year old David Rautio. If they can keep this up a repeat of 2016/7, when they went all the way to the final, should almost be inevitable.

6. Vaxjö Lakers

Växjö finished the month with only three victories. But the current champions have mastered not letting games get away from them so that win or lose, it has only been by a one or two goal margin.

That means that former Anaheim Ducks/ Edmonton Oilers' Viktor Fasth is the league's best keeper when you look at Goals Against Average, with 1.67 per match.

Whilst Czech international Roman Horák leads the team on Total Points it is the tough Canadian Brendan Shinnimin who has lead in December with 7 points (5G+2A). Without the shock and awe of last year, the team from Småland are quietly getting it done and should not be underestimated in 2019.

5. Malmö Redhawks

Four wins out of eight keeps the southernmost team in the SHL in an automatic playoff position at New Year. Dane, Frederik Storm, pictured, Swede Jesper Olofsson and defenseman Carl-Johan Lerby have been keeping their opponents busy with 5 points apiece in the month.

At the back the Redhawks have two excellent keepers but it has been assistant captain Oscar Alsenfelt who has had the most ice time over the former Dallas Stars' minder, Christopher Nihlstorp.

The beginning of the season was marred by injuries to defenseman, with six having been bought or loaned since the season started. But December has been marked by injuries to forwards with top scorer, Konstantin Komarek out with an upper body injury and only managing one point in the five games he has played. Meanwhile, top scorer from last year's Hockey Allsvenskan, Dallas Stars drafted Emil Molin has now been signed off for the rest of the season to have surgery and fully recover from a knee injury he sustained at summer training camp.

4. Linköping HC

The team that started the season almost faultlessly, and after a dip seemed to have fund themselves again in December have won five out of seven matches, including three in a row at the end of the month. As usual, they have enjoyed finding the net, even if they also tend to leak goals at the back, scoring 23 and letting in 21.

Top scorer, former NHLer and Canadian Olympic Bronze medalist, Derek Roy (above) continues to lead the club on points with 9, including 8 assists in December to joint lead the whole SHL in this category with 19.

But the final month of the year has also seen Canadian and former AHL Star, Andrew Gordon start to find his rhythm again. He has scored nearly half of his season's points this month, including the Game Winning Goal in Sudden Death against Malmö Redhawks whilst the team's other crowd pleaser, American Olympian, Broc Little scores the game winner against Färjestad.