A Year in Review: SHL/HockeyAllsvenskan
A series that I WILL get through, probably
Truthfully, I like the SHL style of play. Very defense orientated and lots of higher quality looks. Also, if you are a younger player, it is incredibly hard to find playing time unless you are an exceptional player. So, it’s nice to see a couple of Canes prospects stick in the SHL while under the legal drinking age (in the US), but that’s not to say HockeyAllsvenskan, the Swedish second division, is a slouch league.
The fun part about these two leagues is that they operate on a promotion/demotion premise. Teams in the bottom of the SHL have to fight to stay up in the league while teams in the HA (abbreviated to save my wrists) fight for promotion back to the top league. This creates an incredibly competitive environment and a really fun one to watch unfold.
Back to the Canes prospects part of this, let’s take a look at how every Canes prospects played in either the SHL or the HockeyAllsvenskan.
Joel Nystrom
What a great SHL career Nystrom ended up having and what a great last season he had as well. In his SHL career, Nystrom played 263 games, scoring 27 goals and getting 69 assists for 96 points. He ends his SHL career (for now) at 16th in points out of all Farjestad defenders in their history.
This season, he had 6 goals and 22 points for 28 points in 57 games played. The best way I can describe how Nystrom plays is “consistent.” You know what you are going to get from Nystrom every time he steps on the ice, that being good, solid play both offensively and defensively. His skating is such an advantage to him that his *minor* height disadvantage gets nearly wiped out. He’s had success running a power play unit while with Farjestad and he’s played PK a good amount as well. He was really solid for Farjestad this year, tied for 1st for points by a defenseman and giving really solid play. He also helped Farjestad go to the finals of the Champions Hockey League, where he had 2 assists in 8 games.
Outlook for 2025/26: A top 4 defender for the Chicago Wolves, a role I really think he’ll thrive in. I really liked his play in the 4 games he played at the end of the year.
Simon Forsmark
One of the most consistent defenseman, Forsmark had another solid season with Timra, fluctuating between the left and right side of the defense while averaging somewhere between 18-20 minutes a night.
This season, Forsmark had 4 goals and 20 assists for 24 points in 55 games, his career high in a season in every aspect except goals. Forsmark, like Nystrom, is a solid two way defender with good skating. He’s got better size that Nystrom, standing at 6’2 (actually 6’2, not the 6’2 Nystrom is listed at) and I like Forsmark’s offensive potential a little more. A strong passer with good transitional skills, Forsmark is also a decent defender. While not entirely physical, he’s adept with his stick and being able to read plays.
Outlook for 2025/26: A top 4 defender for Timra. This is the last season the Canes have his rights, but I like his chances to ink an entry level contract before the June 1st, 2026.
Oskar Vuollet
The only Canes prospect forward that played in the SHL this season, Vuollet had an up and down season. To be fair, as it was explained to me, it’s really hard to break into the SHL, and stay in the SHL, as a U20 player. Forwards need to be semi-competent defensively so they normally get bottom 6 minutes. Vuollet made a good impression, as even though he played in the bottom 6 majority of the season, he played on the second power play unit and overall played solidly. In 55 games for Skelleftea, Vuollet had 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points. 2 of those goals came in one playoff game against Farjestad, a game that I actually caught a lot of.
My main want for Vuollet’s development this year was I wanted to see a willingness to go into the dirty areas. Not really along the boards, as his play on the perimeter is actually one of the stronger points in his game. I wanted to see him go to the middle of the ice more and he did just that. At least 4 of his 6 goals came in front of the net or in the slot, reason enough to be extremely happen with his development despite the low counting stats.
Let’s talk about his World Junior run though, because I know some people are going to look at his stats and be less than enthused. 2 words: it’s ugly. 1 goal in 7 games is not what you really want to see, especially since viewers of that same Sweden team got treated to an incredible tournament from Felix Unger Sorum. After starting the tournament in the top 6, he immediately got sent to the bottom 6/bottom line with other players filtering in from other leagues. He didn’t get more than 8:20 TOI in any game but he really never impressed in those games. Left wanting more, but tough situation.
Outlook for 2025/26: A middle 6/bottom 6 role for Skelleftea.
Dominik Badinka
The Canes highest pick from the 2024 draft, Badinka had a reserved role with a Malmo team that made some small noise in the SHL playoffs. Mainly playing 3rd pairing minutes on his off side, Badinka stayed in the lineup due to his defensive play. In 57 games played, he had 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. He also played in 3 games in the AHL, including one playoff game. He did not get a point in those 3 games.
This season was, frankly, weird. After a year where Badinka was used in a top 4 role, Malmo brought in both Lassi Tomson and Robin Salo, two defenders with much more high level experience than Badinka. You would hope that Badinka’s play over the season would move him up in the lineup, but that just didn’t happen. That’s not to say that Badinka had a bad year. As I mentioned earlier, it’s hard to play regular minutes in the SHL as a younger player. He stayed in the lineup because of his strong defensive play, using his high hockey sense to make the right play defensively. He has much more offensive potential than what he has showed so far in the SHL.
Outlook for 2025/26: A spot on the Chicago Wolves blue line, with opportunities to move up and down the lineup with his play.
Noel Fransen
After a near dominant season with the J20 Nationell team and a cup of coffee with the SHL team, Farjestad decided to loan Fransen out to Vasteras in HockeyAllsvenskan as he wasn’t guaranteed playing time. Fransen took that and ran with it, as he was the best U20 defender in the league. In 50 regular season games, he had 3 goals and 17 assists for 20 points, the highest mark out of all U20 defenders and 3rd out of all U20 players, only behind Victor Eklund and Anton Frondell. Both players project to be top 15 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Fransen was great in a weird role, whether that be playing on his off side or getting yoyo’d up and down the lineup. Example:
A low of 14 minutes (twice) and a high of 31 minutes (basically). His offense was there, as he made a ton of good plays and had good efforts in most of his games. His defense needs to keep improving, but that was always going to be the case. His breakouts are solid, but his retrievals need to get better. Fransen also snuck in his first career SHL playoff game, but only played 5 minutes so it only kind of counts.
Outlook for 2025/26: Fransen will fight for a spot on the Farjestad blue line hard next year, but I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if he ends up on loan to a HockeyAllsvenskan side again.
Nils Juntorp
You will never forget him, I will not let it happen (I might forget once or twice).
Juntorp, acquired in the Rantanen deal (the first one, not the second one), played the majority of the season in HockeyEttan, Sweden’s 3rd division. He wasn’t awful, with 20 points in 33 games. He also made his HockeyAllsvenskan debut, playing in 3 games for Vasteras. In complete honesty, I didn’t watch a ton of Juntorp this season. I caught one game on an off day from class but let me be the first to tell you, to find and watch HockeyEttan games is something that takes time and expertise.
Outlook for 2025/26: He’s reportedly signing with Boras HC, another club in HockeyEttan, so I’d think another year in HockeyEttan. Just for your knowledge, his rights expire June 1st, 2026.