Brynäs IF

Last year Brynäs was a team that should have been in the top six, but had a dire start to the season which ruined their chances. This year they start having lost a large number of stars, includes four to North America.

Not only that, but they have lost one of my favourite import players in the SHL, Canadian Kevin Clark to Dinamo Kiev in the KHL as well as probably losing Daniel Paille (in photo) due to concussion in November 2017. With top striker forward, Aaron Palushaj also leaving for Örebro HK I am wondering, where are the goals going to come from for the Gävle club?

There's a lot of responsibility resting on their new signings. Two of those to keep an eye on are import players; the Czech centre, Robert Kousal and American right winger, Danny Kristo.

Kousal brings some good stats with him from two seasons in the KHL (0.40 PPG) and, most recently, two seasons with HC Davos in the NLA (0.67 PPG).

Kristo has just come from a year at Dinamo Kiev where he had a 0.50 Points Per Game average. Before that, the 28 year old had won Junior World Championship Gold in 2009-10 and played 271 games in the AHL where he gained 82 goals and 81 assists. So expect the siren to ring when the Montreal Canadiens' drafted player hits the ice.

The SHL Awards

When the awards for this SHL season were dished out in May it was obvious that Växjö Lakers would be in the limelight in a year where they dominated both the regular season and playoff phase to lift the Le Mat Trophy.

Sam Hallam picked up best manager and Elias Pettersson made a clean sweep with MVP, Best Rookie, Best Forward and first in Total Points and will be starting the autumn at Vancouver Canucks who drafted him in 2017.

There are so many good things to say about this team. But perhaps two overlooked factors to their success are second keeper, Viktor Andrén who let in just one goal in four games against the some of the league's top scoring forwards in the final series. Of course, Hallam's philosophy has been develop a squad with a breadth of talent. So it should not be a surprise that this include the second man at the back. 24 year old Andrén had already started nearly half the matches this season and had played more games than his counterpart, Viktor Fasth, in the high pressure Champions Hockey League matches.

This season was also the making of back, Daniel Rahimi as he made the transition from bruiser to creator with a staggering Plus/Minus of 23, second in the whole league behind, who else, but Pettersson.

2. Djurgården IF

Not just keeper, Reideborn but the whole team seemed to play above themselves this year. Whilst the undrafted netminder kept scores low at the back the rest of the team smashed in goals from every line.

Here we can make special mention of brothers Jonathan and Marcus Davidsson. Younger brother, Marcus, picked up a silver medal with Sweden at the Junior World Championships, whilst Jonathan won the bragging rights in Djurgården's internal competition scoring 10 more points than his brother.

Both were drafted in 2017, 19 year old Marcus with Buffalo Sabres and 21 year old Jonathan with Columbus Blue Jackets. With the increased interest from North America in young Swedish players it remains to be seen how long the Stockholm club will be able to cling onto the talented duo.

10. Brynäs IF

After an unexpected final appearance last year, the team had a dreadful start to the year which culminated in the newly appointed manager, Roger Melin being fired. The club also suffered multiple injuries to key players, not least, former Stanley Cup winner, Daniel Paille. The 34 year old Canadian could well have played in the Olympics if he had not suffered a season-ending, and probably career-ending, concussion in the final minutes of a CHL match.

The team, however, recovered brilliantly under new manager, Tommy Sjödin, and a new import star was born in 28 year old American, Aaron Palushaj (above). The former NHL, AHL and KHL forward, finished seventh in Total Points and will be able to sign with any club in Europe he feels like after an outstanding performance this season with 45 points, including 19 goals.

4. Färjestad BK

It was a better than expected regular season, but therefore a disappointing post season for the club from Karlstad as they went out in the quarterfinals.

24 year old defenseman Mikael Wikstrand was ever-present at the back, coming in fourth in players with the most ice time. He was, on average, on the ice a whole 28 seconds more than Finnish back partner, Jesse Virtanen (above). But despite all that exposure, the Swede created a Plus/ Minus of 18, whilst only collecting 7 penalties during the whole season. The 2012 Ottawa Senators drafted Swede also proved himself on the Olympic stage by scoring his first and second goal in national colours at Senior level. Pretty impressive considering he only scored five goals in the regular season.

8. HV71

Last year's champions struggled to make an impact, but with many players leaving as a result of their success the result was not really a surprise.

Nonetheless, it was still a breakout season for defenseman, Lawrence Pilut. The 22 years old Swede was awarded an Assistant Captain role at the club where he has played since a junior. But more importantly, he finished off the season as the top scoring defenseman in the league and earned his first caps in the national team as a Senior, including being one of the few SHL players in the squad at the World Championship in Denmark.

3. Frölunda Indians

The Indians were absent from the Champions Hockey League final for the first time in four years and then went out of the national competition in the playoff quarterfinals. A disappointing season for manager, Roger Rönnberg, whilst at the same time the entire world has been staring expectantly every time defenseman Dahlin sneezed within a mile of an ice hockey rink.

Finishing in the top six and gaining an automatic playoff spot was not a given at Christmas. So credit must go to the scouting agent who found Jan Mursak floating around the KHL with nothing to do. Arguably the signing of the season, the 30 year old, Slovenian Olympic team captain, promptly managed to score an incredible 20 points in just 15 games, including 10 goals in the regular season to go straight in at number four in the table for average Points Per Game in the history of the league. A new entry this year at number five was none other than Växjö's Pettersson.

9. Linköping HC

The club have always been a team that has relied on it's North American forwards for success and this year was no exception. With the NHL refusing to release it's players for the Winter Games, last summer saw a mad scramble as European clubs tried to entice players who might be willing to play in the continent to make themselves eligible for the Olympics. At the same time, players already in Europe had a chance for Olympic glory that otherwise would have been out if their reach.

So Canada's assistant captains, both with over 720 games of NHL experience, played in SHL this season. 36 year old René Bourque for Djurgården IF and 35 year old, Derek Roy, played for Linköping HC. Roy, unlike Bourque, was in his fourth season outside North America and did not disappoint expectations, topped the team in Total Points. No only that, but he also got to pick up an Olympic Bronze too.

So did Bourque, of course, but in his only season in Europe he did not play any playoff matches at all, including Djurgården's defeat of Linköping in the quarterfinals. That was because of his son's illness leading to his decision to retire from the game at the end of this season.

7. Luleå HF

The team set their sights high when they appointed former Brynäs' manager Thomas Berglund at the beginning of the season. The previous year, the former Luleå player and manager had taken Brynäs to an unlikely final where they only lost in overtime in the seventh game of the series. So it was a disappointing season for the team from Norrbotten who were swept aside by none other than Brynäs in the playoff qualifier.

The men's team had less import players than most of the others team in the SHL. But one of them, Canadian Brendan Mikkelsson (pictured), would have an unexpected impact. The 30 year old defenseman just happens to be sister to Canadian Silver medallist, Meaghan Mikkelsson. The 33 year old defender made the decision to join the women's team after the Olympics along with fellow Canadian, Jennifer Wakefield. 13 games and 8 points later Mikkelsson was able to add the Swedish championship to her Olympic medal to make a memorable year for the Canadian as Luleå women succeeded where the men had failed.

6. Malmö Redhawks

A season where they consolidated their status in the top half of the table, but the team can only be thinking now, of what could have been. The loss of captain, Erik Forssell, for the majority of the season due his daughter's severe illness deprived them of a leader and reliable points getter. He has scored an average of a point every other game in an 11 year career in the SHL. When the Lakers pinched their top striker, American forward, Andy Miele and had the luxury to turn this points machine into a fourth line agitator the difference between the clubs was underlined even before the Lakers victory over the Redhawks in the semifinals.