Frölunda won the SDHL championship only days ago, but the league’s general managers are already hard at work building their 2025-26 squads. News and notes from each team, beginning with Brynäs, Djurgården and Frölunda:

 GM Erika Grahm has made a splash early, signing two highly touted Finns.  First, Grahm re-signed the team’s reigning top scorer, Jennina Nylund, to a one-year extension.  Nylund had 32 points in 34 regular season games with the club in 2024-25, good for eighth overall in league scoring.  Next, Grahm sent shockwaves through the league by signing star forward Viivi Vainikka away from Luleå.  Many expected the electric Vainikka to be taken early in the upcoming PWHL draft, but North American fans will have to wait at least another year to see her hit the ice on the other side of the pond.  Brynäs still has a number of roster holes that need to be filled: forward Sanni Vanhanen, who played brilliantly during the playoffs, will depart for Ohio State of the NCAA; former PWHL defenders Taylor Baker and Maude Poulin-Labelle are rumoured to be leaving; playoff performer Celine Tedenby has yet to re-sign, and fans are speculating about the hockey future of Hungarian star Fanni Garát-Gasparics.  Neither of the team’s goaltenders are currently signed, though Norwegian Ena Nystrøm was fourth in the league in wins behind only Luleå’s Frida Axell (departing to Rögle of the NDHL), MoDo’s Andrea Brändli (rumoured to be holding out until the PWHL draft) and Stephanie Neatby of champions Frölunda, who became a free agent when the team declined to re-sign her earlier this week.  The addition of Vainikka should complement Nylund and Hanna Thuvik well. If Grahm can shore up the team’s scoring depth and defense, Brynäs might make another deep playoff run.

DIF will look like a very different team when the first puck drops for the 2025-26 season.  Earlier this week, the club bid adieu to a handful of players including young Czechs Hana Haasová, Tereza Plosová and Tereza Pisteková, as well as defender Linnea Natt Och Dag and forward Sara Säkkinen.  Plosová and Natt Och Dag will compete against each other in the NCAA next season, playing for the University of Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth respectively.  21-year-old Swedish national team netminder Ida Boman, who seemed to will DIF into the playoffs this year, remains unsigned despite posting impressive numbers throughout the campaign, including a 1.55 GAA, .936 save percentage and 7 shutouts in 29 starts.  Captain Brette Pettet is also without a contract after notching a career best 26 points in 35 regular season games.  Isabelle Leijonhielm and Emma Forsgren are too currently on the outside looking in, as their contracts expired at the end of this season.  All in all, DIF Sports Director Rickard Hårdstam has his work cut out for him, with many holes to fill and few resources to throw at the problem.

Newly crowned champs Frölunda and GM Kim Martin-Hasson already have their sights set on next season.  Just this week, the shock departures of two key players were announced, as the club declined to re-sign starting goaltender Steph Neatby, and legendary forward Michelle Karvinen is rumoured to be declaring for the upcoming PWHL draft.  While 18-year-old backup goalie Maja Helge has one year left on her current contract, few believe that Martin-Hasson expects the young tender to step into Neatby’s vacated spot.  Social media is rife with rumours that Swedish national team starter Emma Söderberg, who has struggled for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet this season, will return home to fill the void.  Hanna Olsson, recently named to the Swedish squad for the upcoming World Championships, is locked in until 2027, and regular season scoring leader Elisa Holopainen until 2026.  The team announced that American Sydney Brodt, who joined the squad for 12 regular season games and the playoffs will depart. A number of key members of the championship group have yet to re-sign, including Andrea Dalen, who was the SDHL’s top playoff scorer with 13 points in 11 games. Defender Paula Bergström, also without a contract for 2025/26 will be in high demand all over the league after her stellar play on the back end earned her a fourth straight World Championship invitation with Sweden. One thing is for certain: Martin-Hasson moves as well as a GM as she did when she was an Olympic Silver Medal-winning goalie. Expect her to once again build a team capable of winning the SDHL championship.