A Year in Review: SHL/HockeyAllsvenskan
A championship was won!
Next up in the “A Year in Review” series is all of Sweden, that being the SHL and the HockeyAllsvenskan. After being treated to Joel Nystrom steady performances over the past few years, it was much slower this time around. Simon Forsmark’s production slowed down, Oskar Vuollet was a 4th liner getting limited minutes, and Noel Fransen bounced around a little more than expected.
With that, admittedly, negative outlook out of the way, lets dive into how each prospect faired this year in Sweden’s hockey ranks.
Viggo Nordlund, W (Oskarshamn, HA)
Arguably the best U20 player in HockeyAllsvenskan this year, Nordlund was really, really solid for Oskarshamn. In 63 games played, he had 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points.
He played 58 HockeyAllsvenskan games, with 28 points coming in those games. During the regular season, he won the awards for most goals by a U20 player (12) and the award for most points by a U20 player (26). He’s got that level of dynamic skill you want to see in an undersized forward. It’s not gamebreaking, but there’s enough skill within his game for him to be extremely dangerous when he’s in the offensive zone. His work in transition has become something to behold, being able to use his skating to weave in and out of traffic. This was a really nice year for Nordlund overall, showing good signs of development in most aspects.
Outlook for 2026/27: This one is interesting, because of just how deep Skelleftea is. There are two options, either he fights for a role with the SHL team, or he heads out on loan again to another SHL or HockeyAllsvenskan team.
Oskar Vuollet, W (Skelleftea, SHL)
While I was slightly negative about Vuollet in the open, make no mistake. He still helped Skelleftea win the SHL championship this season. Every player that plays, especially almost every game in the playoffs, helps a team win. In 60 games played this year, he had 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points.
One thing to keep in mind is that the SHL is a tough league for younger players. Unless you’re someone with lottery level talent, it’s tougher for you to get consistent minutes. Vuollet has a good amount of offensive creativity in his game, mainly being a perimeter player at this point. He’s got good playmaking ability but it’s hard to flash that ability in his limited play time.
Outlook for 2026/27: A bottom/middle 6 winger for Skelleftea.
Noel Fransen, LHD (Karlskoga, HA)
Fransen started his year in the SHL with Farjestad, getting limited (but productive) minutes with 2 points in 3 games. He was then loaned to Karlskoga in HockeyAllsvenskan and was getting 16+ minutes a night very regularly. He was then called back to Farjestad when former Wolves head coach Cam Abbott was hired, where he honestly struggled a bit. After 8 games, he was sent back to Karlskoga, called back up to Farjestad the next day, and then sent back to Karlskoga 2 weeks later (after playing 3 games in 3 days). Ok, got all that? In 56 games played this year, he had 7 goals and 11 assists for 18 points.
Fransen is one of the best offensive defenseman in the Canes system. He’s got dynamic skating ability and a desire to move the puck quickly. He’s had success running power plays for teams over the past few seasons and it’s easy to see why. Big fan of the way he’s a dangerous threat when he’s patrolling the blue line. The thing that I’d love to see Fransen work is being more physical defensively. He’s not the smallest defenseman, standing at 6’1 and 194 pounds, but he’s not the most physically engaging defender, which leads to some lapses in coverage.
Outlook for 2026/27: He’s rumored with a move to Ilves in Liiga, Finland’s top tier league.
Simon Forsmark, LHD (Timra IK, SHL)
After posting a career best year in the SHL, Formark had a slower year than previously expected. His ice time was down slightly and the plus/minus, a stat that I don’t really like using when judging defense, went from a +11 to a -8. In 51 games this year, he had 3 goals and 11 assists for 14 points.
A solid 4 way skater with good defensive instincts, he really blossomed into a top 4 role with Timra last year. Not quite sure what happened this year, but he wasn’t the same player as last year. The offense was still decent, like his passing ability from the point. Just a down year overall for the 22 year old.
Outlook for 2026/27: With his rights expiring on June 1st combined with his contract running until 2029, Forsmark’s time as a Canes Prospect will be coming to an end.