Jakob Silfverberg honoured on the video board during the TV timeout (Via: Derek Lee) The NHL entering it's offseason means we look to other leagues around the world for great betting values ahead of their league start. We look to explore possibly the most entertaining league in Europe, the Swedish Hockey League, also known as the SHL. We spoke with The Hockey News' International hockey insider, Derek O'Brien [https://thehockeynews.com/international/author/derek-obrien] on the SHL and what he expects for the upcoming season. The SHL has seen all of the game's greatest Swedish hockey players make their mark in this league and the next generation of William Nylander's and Victor Hedman's have begun. All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly. Farjestad BK to win Swedish Hockey League 2024/25 (+600) The Farjestad BK had a sensational season last year as they finished with a 30-11 record and the most goals in the league at 176 as well as the fourth-fewest goals allowed with 119. They were a dominate team but fell very short of their championship aspirations and lost in the Quarterfinals. They look to bounce back and enter the upcoming season and the team with the second-highest odds to win it all. The team that ended up winning it all was Skelleftea AIK, who finished with a 27-15 record and allowed the second-fewest goals this season at 111 with big wins over Frölunda and Linköping before beating the emerging Rögle BK in the Finals. Skelleftea AIK along with Farjestad and the surprising Rögle were all among the names that O'Brien had mentioned. "Skelleftea should be one of the favourites for sure, but there's a lot of parity in the SHL so it's hard to say definitively," he said "Farjestad has a very interesting team to watch with some talented young players like Damian Clara and Stian Solberg." Clara and Solberg are emerging talents and are both signed to the Anaheim Ducks. The SHL is full of players looking to grow their talent at a young age before making the jump to the NHL level. Farjestad has four players signed to NHL deals while Rögle has just one and Skelleftea has five for next season. Farjestad will certainly be a formittable team once again as they have reigning scoring-champion in Czech forward David Tomasek, who finished with 25 goals in 52 games as well as Swedish forwards Victor Ejdsell and Joakim Nygård, who both finished top 13 in points with 41 and 37 respectively. People love a redemption story like we just saw with the Florida Panthers and if you are looking for another, you may want to check out the play of Farjestad BK next season. Check out more of Derek O'Brien's work at The Hockey News' International Site [https://thehockeynews.com/international/]!
