After a disappointing season in which he only played five NHL games for the lowly Anaheim Ducks, 29-year-old defenseman Robert Hägg is considering a return to his native Sweden, according to an interview with Expressen reporter Sanny Lindström.
An NHL regular between 2017 and 2023 with the Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings, Hägg had high hopes when he signed a one-year contract with the Ducks last summer but ended up spending most of the season with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
“No, it wasn’t what I had hoped for,” said Hägg. “I think I had a good training camp with the Ducks, but I still had to start the season in San Diego. What had been said when I signed didn’t really apply anymore but they wanted me to start in San Diego and then I would be called up. But it took a while and then when I did, I got to play very little.”
His five-game call-up occurred in January. The Ducks lost all five games – with Hägg logging between 11:57 and 13:05 each game – and he was subsequently sent back to the AHL.
To avoid another move, Hägg made the 90-mile commute from the family’s rental home in the Anaheim suburb of Villa Park to San Diego for every practise and home game, “and it went relatively well, even though the traffic here in Southern California can be difficult,” he said.
He becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1 but the Häggs will be back in Sweden well before that date. Will he be staying for good?
“I haven’t decided on a club for next season, but a decision will probably come shortly,” said Hägg.
It’s no surprise that one of Hägg’s suitors is MoDo, the Swedish club where he played from age 15 to 19. He got his first taste of pro hockey with the club, playing 80 SHL games over two seasons before heading overseas in 2014. There has been an online campaign among MoDo fans to bring back Hägg, who has a long history with Henrik Gradin, the club’s sports director.
“I’ve known Hinken (Gradin) since my time in junior, when he coached both MoDo’s U18 and U20 teams when I played there. So we’ve been in touch over the years and I know about the interest.”
More immediately, Hägg is focused on downtime with family and friends back home in Uppsala.
“It will be nice to come home now,” he said. “I haven’t planned much for the summer apart from a Bruce Springsteen concert in July. Then Radko Gudas and a few more hockey friends arrive. We saw Springsteen at Ullevi (in Gothenburg) last year and it was fantastic.
“Then there will be a week or so on Gotland and maybe another trip in Europe. But the most fun will be spending the summer with our newborn son Max, who is five weeks old.”