Report: Robert Hägg Will Probably Return Home Next Season

There’s a very good chance that Swedish defenseman Robert Hägg will be returning home to play for MoDo Örnsköldsvik, according to HockeyNews.se reporter Mattias Persson.

“As I understand it, moving home is very much in play,” Persson said in the latest episode of his podcast MP & Hanson. “It’s down to either MoDo or re-signing with Vegas Golden Knights.”

Hägg, the second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2013, was an NHL regular from 2017 to 2023, mostly for Philadelphia but he also had stints with the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings. However, he’s only played seven NHL games over the past two seasons combined, leading to renewed speculation that the 30-year-old’s days in North America are drawing to a close.

Hägg signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks in the summer of 2023 but, after having what he felt was a strong training camp, he was sent to the minors, beginning a year-long ordeal that he described in an interview with Upsala Nya Tidning last summer.

“Why did you even sign me at all?,” he reportedly asked at one point when he was returned to the minors after a five-game mid-season stint with the Ducks. “I’m not a junior anymore, I’ve been playing here for 10 years. You had this in mind when you signed me, so why couldn’t you be honest from the start? They had no answer, so it was just a matter of biting the bullet and soldiering on.”

Reportedly, MoDo made a big push to sign Hägg last summer, but he decided to give the NHL another chance, signing a one-year, two-way deal with Vegas this past summer.

“It was on the table whether we should move home or how we should do it, but we have definitely decided that we want to stay abroad for a few more years,” Hägg said at the time.

However, after another season spent primarily in the AHL, Hägg and his family are perhaps beginning to reconsider. He has only played two NHL games with the Knights, both in late November, and has otherwise played for the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, where he has 16 points and 22 penalty minutes in 40 games through the end of January.

Hägg spent three seasons in the MoDo organization from age 16 to 19, recording seven points in 80 SHL games.

“I’ve known Hinken (MoDo sports director Henrik Gradin) since my time in junior, when he coached both MoDo’s U18 and U20 teams when I played there,” said Hägg. “So we’ve been in touch over the years and I know about the interest.”

Which league MoDo plays in next season might play a role in whether Hägg returns or not. The team currently sits 13th in the 14-team league – two points up on last-place HV71 and two behind 13th-place Linköping with seven games remaining in the regular season. The last two teams in the standings face each other in a play-out series, with the winner remaining in the SHL and the loser being relegated to the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

If Hägg’s NHL career is indeed over, he finishes with 63 points and 308 penalty minutes in 345 regular-season games spread out over nine seasons.