The 2025-26 SDHL season opens tonight. All ten teams will be in action. Here’s a look at what to expect.
Luleå MSSK vs Frölunda
Reigning champs Frölunda will kick things off on the road against a familiar foe: FHC toppled perennial favourites Luleå in three straight games in last season’s finals to claim the SDHL crown. Since then, both teams have made some personnel adjustments. A notable absence from Luleå’s roster for the first time in eleven seasons will be Swedish star Emma Nordin, who recently announced her retirement. Nordin’s game sense, experience and scoring touch will be hard to replace, though she will remain with the club as a player development coordinator. Her jersey will be retired and raised to the rafters on opening night. Frölunda’s roster will also feature some notable changes. Swiss national team goaltender Andrea Brändli will make her debut between the pipes, taking the reins after the departure of fan favourite Stephanie Neatby to HV71. Hulking wunderkind Moa Stridh, still only 15-years-old, could make her big league debut on Friday. At 5’11 (180cm) and 172lbs (78kg), Stridh has proven capable of dominating opponents in her age group, both girls and boys, for some time. It will be interesting to see how head coach Erika Holst fosters the youngster’s development as the season progresses.
Brynäs vs Linköping
Brynäs made a splash during the off season, signing a handful of big names including Finnish offensive dynamos Noora Tulus and Viivi Vainikka, emerging Swedish stars Ebba Hesselvall and Elin Svensson, and Czech national team goaltender Klara Peslarova. If preseason games are any indication, Brynäs could prove to be the highest scoring team in the league this year. With a forward group including Tulus, Vainikka, Hanna Thuvik, Jenniina Nylund and Svensson, as well as young guns Hesselvall and Tilde SundnSundnäsäs Grillfors, Brynäs will be tough to stop. Their defensive core won’t be spectacular, but they likely won’t need to be either. Linköping, meanwhile, will see the return of crafty Japanese forward Haruka Toko, whose 2024-25 season was cut short by injury. Toko will be joined by trio of Americans, Ellie Kaiser and Sophie Helgeson, who both recently graduated from the NCAA’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Madie Leidt, who arrives in Sweden after three seasons with the EWHL’s HK Budapest, where she tallied 114 points in 54 games. The team will again rely heavily on stellar goaltending from Ebba Svensson Träff, who made 31 starts last season and registered 8 shutouts, if they are to finish in the top 4.
SDE vs Djurgården
New look SDE will certainly begin the season in excellent shape after a typically tough training camp conducted by head coach Peter Elander. Fans will welcome the debut of Swedish national team goaltender Emma Söderberg, who returns to the SDHL after seven seasons in North America, first at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and then in the PWHL with the Boston Fleet. Seasoned Czech defender Dominika Lásková will add speed and grit to the blue line, while young countryman Tereza Pistēková could have a breakout year after showing flashes of brilliance with Djurgården last year. Import forward Sam Cogan, Swedish sparkplug Lisa Johansson and captain Mathea Fischer will all help SDE to play the relentless, grinding hockey that Elander’s teams are known for. Djurgården, meanwhile, is a team in transition, and made a number of interesting moves over the summer. The most intriguing was perhaps the signing of goaltender Lauren Bench, who has not played a game since the 2022-2023 season, when she started 26 games for MoDo. Bench has spent the last two years as a reserve player, or fourth goalie, in the PWHL. How long it takes her to shake off the rust could have massive implications for DIF’s success this season.
MoDo vs Färjestad
After a rather disappointing playoff run, MoDo shook things up in the off season, signing a handful of North American imports. In are defenders Sydney Pedersen and Courtney Vorster, forwards Alyssa McLeod, Neena Brick and Sarah Marchand, and goaltender Lucy Morgan. Morgan will look to fill the void left by exemplary goaltender Andrea Brändli, who left to Frölunda earlier in the summer. Like Lauren Bench of Djurgården, Morgan spent her most recent season as a backup to the backup goaltender in the PWHL, where she played scant minutes with Minnesota. Bench’s ability to get into the swing of things early will be a key to MoDo’s success. SDHL newcomers Färjestad should be fun to watch, and could prove capable of toppling some of the league’s more well-established teams. Goaltender Ida Boman had a stellar campaign for Djurgården last season, and will be at her best every night as she tried to earn her spot on the Swedish Olympic Team later this season. The team’s defensive core is one of the older and more experienced in the league, though the transition from the NDHL to the faster, stronger SDHL could prove challenging. Offense might prove to be Färjestad’s greatest challenge. While a number of the team’s leading scorers from last season in the NDHL have returned, getting pucks over the offensive blue line, maintaining possession and scoring will all be orders of magnitude more difficult in the SD.
Skellefteå vs. HV71
Skellefteå accomplished their mission of staying up in the top league last season, and even managed to qualify for the playoffs. That they dropped their first round series in three straight games to powerhouse Luleå was almost inconsequential. This season, they’ll be looking to climb the standings, and GM Ulrika Dahlgren has shown great confidence in her squad by making few off season moves. Her goaltending tandem of Camryn Drever and Miranda Dahlgren remains intact. Malou Berggren, Sini Karjalainen and Aino Karppinen return on defence, joined by Hungarian national team and SDHL veteran Lotti Odnoga. Up front, look for Danish young gun Nikita Bergmann to have a breakout season as she grows into her 5’10 frame and gains the strength and weight needed to hold off adult competition. Additions Celine Tedenby and Millie Rose Sirum will bring offensive abilities that should complement the team’s core. HV71 could reestablish themselves as an SDHL contender after a busy off season if their new signings pan out. Fresh off winning the SDHL championship with Frölunda, star goalie Steph Neatby will immediately help to shore up the team’s defensive holes. In front of her, Canadian Adriana Van de Leest adds size, reach and NCAA experience to a D core that also includes returner Teghan Inglis who tallied 19 points in 36 games from the blue line last season. Returners and fan favourites Kennedy Bobyck and Julia Nearis will be joined by young Slovak Ema Tothová, who has a knack for scoring big goals. There are glaring holes to fill after the departure of the Two Svenssons, Elin to Brynäs and Hilda to Ohio State University of the NCAA.
Games begin at 6pm (Luleå vs FHC/Brynäs vs LHC) and 7pm (SDE vs DIF/SKE vs HV71/MoDo vs FBK) local time and are available on the league’s YouTube channel.