The Swedish Hockey League quarterfinals begins on Friday and perhaps the most anticipated matchup is between fourth-seeded Skellefteå AIK and fifth-seeded Färjestad Karlstad.
Skellefteå, the defending SHL champion, underperformed somewhat this season but still has a star-studded lineup that includes ex-NHLers Andreas Johnsson, Oscar Lindberg, Luke Witkowski and Pär Lindholm, as well as young defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka, the Detroit Red Wings prospect who is poised to go overseas after the playoffs are done.
Agent: Axel Sandin-Pellikka Will Go To North America After Swedish Playoffs
In late January, it was reported that Swedish defenseman <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/skellefte-will-lose-sandin-pellikka-eyes-ex-leaf-lightning-d-man-as-replacement">Axel
Sandin-Pellikka will play in North America starting next season</a>. Now,
multiple Swedish media outlets are reporting that <a href="https://hockeynews.se/nyheter/agenten-om-sandin-pellikkas-framtid">he could go as early as this spring</a>.
Johnsson, who just completed his second season in Skellefteå after a seven-year stretch in North America. Johnsson recently spoke to Norran, a regional newspaper in northern Sweden, with excerpts published by HockeyNews.se.
“It’s been mixed,” Johnsson said about his two seasons so far back in Sweden. “It hasn’t really gone the way I thought, and when things don’t go right you don’t get that confidence boost you need to build on.”
After 122 points in 273 NHL regular-season and playoff games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks between 2017 and 2023, Johnsson went to the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp on a PTO but failed to make the team.
He eventually joined Skellefteå well into the 2023-24 season. He registered 16 points in 30 regular-season games and then had eight points in 11 playoff games, helping Skellefteå win the SHL title.
Despite a solid off-season of training and being with the team for the full training camp, this season has been a bit more difficult, with 17 points, 28 penalty minutes and a minus-9 rating in 40 regular-season games.
Seattle Kraken Prospect Will Miss Rest Of Swedish League Playoffs
Swedish
center Zeb Forsfjäll, 20, played in 39 of Skellefteå
AIK’s 52 SHL regular-season games but he will miss the playoffs,
according to <a href="https://www.expressen.se/sport/hockey/shl/skellefteas-small-talangen-missar-hela-slutspelet/">multiple
Swedish media outlets</a>.
“Sometimes I wonder why I performed better last year when I was in worse shape than I am now,” he pondered. “But it’s a mental challenge.”
But Johnsson, now 30, knows he can make up for that with strong play in the playoffs, as he did last season.
“I feel a strong desire for revenge and I know that everything can turn around quickly,” he said. “I’m in good shape and really want to make a difference. I still believe that I can score 40 to 50 points in a season, so I’m looking forward to showing what I can do, both in the playoffs and in the future.”
Last season, Johnsson was physically engaged in the playoffs and was heavily involved in a wild semifinal series against Frölunda, which was Johnsson’s team prior to going overseas. In Game 6 of that series, Johnsson incurred a match penalty for kneeing and received a two-game suspension.
Skelleftea won Game 7 without Johnsson in the lineup, and then beat Rögle BK in the finals.
Andreas Johnsson suspended 2 SHL playoff games for kneeing
It’s been a <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/wild-game-in-sweden-skellefte-beats-frolunda-7-6-in-ot-oscar-lindbergs-cross-check-goes-uncalled">wild Swedish Hockey League semifinal series</a> between Skellefteå AIK and Frölunda HC with plenty of goals, lead swings, and four overtimes in the first six games. But despite a few controversial plays, there hadn’t been any suspensions until now.