The SDHL is filled with talent from Sweden and Finland, but players from other nations are beginning to join. Here are five international stars who will play in the SDHL this season.
While the PHF is the newest location for top talent following the NCAA, the SDHL is seeing an influx of youth joining the league before playing college hockey, or at the beginning of their careers. In particular, many of those players are non-Swedish Europeans joining the league in search of the top competition outside North America.
Of course Swedish talents including Hilda Svensson, Mira Jungaker, and Ebba Hedqvist play in the league, but that pool is growing by the year. Here's a look at some of the top young talent new to the SDHL this offseason:
Adela Sapovalivova, 2006, Czechia - MoDo - Already one of the most skilled players in the world, Sapovalivova has slick hands and is an agile forward who has scored at every level. She was dominant at the U-18 Worlds and was one of Czechia's top offensive players in her senior national debut helping Czechia to bronze.
Tereza Plosova, 2006, Czechia - Djurgårdens - Djurgårdens has some of the best foreign and domestic youth on their roster. Plosova, 16, is already a member of Czechia's senior national team having won a World Championship bronze this year. She's also scored 16 points in 10 games across two -18 World Championships appearances. She'll be one of the top players on the planet soon.
Linda Vocetková, 2007, Czechia - Djurgårdens - Vocetková scored 32 points in 21 games last season in Czechia's top boy's U-15 league, and added five in five at the U-18 World Championships as a 15-year-old. The five-foot-nine right shot forward will soon join Czechia's senior national team, and looks like a bright star for the nation in the future.
Emma Hofbauer, 2004, Austria - AIK - The Austrian national team member spent this season in North America playing for Shattuck St. Mary's 19U 'AAA' team where she put up strong numbers scoring 35 points in 47 games. AIK looks like one of the weakest teams in the SDHL on paper, and will be fighting to avoid relegation, but they also have some of the most intriguing youthful imports.
Klara Miuller, 2003, Lithuania - AIK - Far too good to stay in Lithuania, Miuller did the only thing she could and left. This season she led the Division IIIA World Championships in scoring by a landslide recording 18 points in five games, and blew away the competition in the Baltic League scoring 36 goals and 46 points in only 13 games. It will be an adjustment moving to the SDHL, but her development will be on an exponential upward path.