23-year-old signs with HV71 of SHL
HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League announced that they have signed former Syracuse Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt to a three-year contract beginning in 2024-25.
Alnefelt is a pending restricted free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning after posting a 14-8-3 record with a 2.76 GAA and .893 save percentage with Syracuse in the AHL this year.
The 23-year-old returns to the organization he began his career with, as he started with HV71 Jr. before joining the main team HV71 in the SHL.
Alnefelt has played parts of three seasons for the junior team and four for the main club. He also has a U18 Ivan Hlinka Gold Medal and World Junior Bronze with Team Sweden on his resume.
Originally selected in the third round of the 2019 draft by Tampa Bay, Alnefelt only played in one career NHL game.
Once considered a prospect with high potential, it became evident Alnefelt may not have been in Tampa's long term plans when he did not start any games at the beginning of the season when Andrei Vasilevskiy was out with injury.