Swedish-Kazakh defenseman Viktor Svedberg has signed to play the remainder of the season for HC Pustertal, the Italian-based ICEHL club announced on Thursday.
“I can’t wait to get to Pustertal, to experience the atmosphere in the Intercable Arena and to get to know everyone,” said Svedberg. “I want to help win games and get as far as possible.”
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden and a product of the local Frölunda club, Svedberg played in North America from 2013 to 2018. He spent most of that time with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, but he played a good portion of the 2015-16 season with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. He had 4 points in 27 NHL regular-season games and no points in three playoff games.
Svedberg went to the Calgary Flames training camp in 2018, but after being cut from the team, went back to Europe. He soon began playing for the KHL’s Kazakhstan-based team, Barys Astana, and within two years he became one one of many players that were naturalized as Kazakh citizens for the purpose of playing for the national team.
Svedberg played for Kazakhstan at the 2021 and 2022 IIHF World Championships, recording four points in 10 games. Over five KHL seasons with Astana, CSKA Moscow and Avangard Omsk, he recorded 36 points in 186 regular-season and playoff games.
Last season, Svedberg played just 14 games for HK Poprad in the Slovak Extraliga, recording one goal and one assist.
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