Swedish goaltender Arvid Holm, 26, is expected sign with the Detroit Red Wings this off-season, according to a tweet from Cam Robinson, Content Director and Director of Film Scouting for EliteProspects.com.

Playing for Rögle BK in the SHL this past season, the 6-foot-5 Holm posted a 1.90 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and four shutouts while playing in 35 of his team’s 52 regular-season games and was awarded the Honken Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. In the 14-team league, Rögle was tied for the fifth-best goals against total but was ranked 12th in goals scored.

Rögle finished seventh in the regular season before losing two straight games to the 10th-place Malmö Redhawks in a play-in series by scores of 2-1 in overtime and 3-0.

Holm still has another two years remaining on his contract with Rögle but European contracts commonly contain escape clauses should the player receive an NHL offer.

Originally from Ljungby, Sweden, Holm played for the Ljungby-Troja, Karlskrona and Färjestad clubs and was a sixth-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Holm played three seasons in North America from 2021 to 2024 in the Winnipeg and Colorado Avalanche systems, playing in pre-season games and serving as the backup for both teams in a handful of NHL games, but didn’t earn any NHL regular-season minutes. In 71 AHL games, Holm had a goals-against average of 2.80, a save percentage of 2.80 and two shutouts.

Victor Soderstrom Wins Borje Salming Trophy As SHL’s Top Defenseman Victor Söderström has been named the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League for the 2024-25 season. As a result, he has been awarded the Börje Salming Trophy.

Erik Brännström has played in North America since 2018 but multiple Swedish media sources are reporting that he will return to Europe next season.

HockeyNews.se is reporting that the 25-year-old Swedish defenseman is most likely headed to Switzerland, where he would sign a long-term deal – a scoop attributed to an Expressen.se article behind a paywall.

The website further notes that Genève-Servette and HC Lugano are two teams in Switzerland’s National League who have room to add imports to their rosters. Both teams that have generally not been afraid to pay well for talent, particularly Genève, although both teams also struggled and missed the playoffs this past season.

Lugano Dismisses Coach Krupp And Several Noteworthy Players Just days after the team saved its position in Switzerland’s National League by defeating HC Ajoie in a playout series, HC Lugano parted ways with head coach Uwe Krupp and several notable players, including goaltender Adam Húska, defenseman Valtteri Pulli, and forwards Mark Arcobello, Daniel Carr, Radim Zohorna and Aleksi Peltonen.

Originally from Eksjö, Sweden, Brännström played junior hockey and turned pro with HV71 in nearby Jönköping.

Brännström was a first-round pick, 17th overall, by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and was moved to the Ottawa Senators in a 2019 multi-player deal that saw Vegas acquire Mark Stone.

From 2019 to 2024, Brännström’s career was fairly stable – mostly playing in the NHL for Ottawa with occasional assignments to the Belleville Senators, the team’s nearby AHL farm team.

However, this season has been quite chaotic for the diminutive, puck-moving defenseman. He signed as a free-agent with the Colorado Avalanche in the summer but was traded to the Vancouver Canucks before the season began. After playing 28 games in Vancouver, he was dealt to the New York Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade in late January and then traded again to the Buffalo Sabres just prior to the trade deadline. He has not played an NHL game for either of the latter two teams.

Overall, Brännström has 77 points and 162 penalty minutes in 294 NHL regular-season games.

If he signs in Switzerland, it will be Brännström’s second tour of duty there, although the first one only lasted 10 games with the SCL Tigers in the autumn of 2020 while the start of the NHL season was delayed by pandemic-related restrictions.

Victor Soderstrom Wins Borje Salming Trophy As SHL’s Top Defenseman Victor Söderström has been named the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League for the 2024-25 season. As a result, he has been awarded the Börje Salming Trophy.

Victor Söderström has been named the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League for the 2024-25 season. As a result, he has been awarded the Börje Salming Trophy.

In 2019, he was picked 11th overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes but, just five years later, he signed a two-year deal to play with his hometown team, Brynäs Gävle, which has just been promoted back to the SHL. He went on to have a spectacular season, recording 37 points in 49 regular-season games as Brynäs surprisingly finished first.

“I definitely don’t regret a thing,” Söderström is quoted on the club’s website. “It’s a slightly different path to take because I’m still young and my goal is still very much to make it in the NHL.”

That might happen next season as Söderström, now 24, was traded from Utah HC to the Chicago Blackhawks on the NHL trade deadline, and he indicated at the time that he had been seeking to get his NHL rights moved.

Victor Soderstrom Might Return To NHL After Rights Traded To Chicago: ‘We’ve Been Trying To Arrange It All Season’ Victor Söderström didn’t want to give up on the NHL so early, but it seems that he didn’t see a path to that dream running through Salt Lake City. Playing this season for Brynäs IF in the SHL, he learned on Friday – the NHL trade deadline – that his NHL rights had been traded from Utah HC to the Chicago Blackhawks along with the rights to Shea Weber – who hasn’t played since 2021 and is essentially retired – in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.

But first things first, as Brynäs has a semifinal series coming up against Skellefteå AIK starting on Friday. Skellefteå’s lineup includes Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Jonathan Pudas, the two previous winners of the award.

“I love coming to the rink every day,” Söderström continued. “The fact that the pairing with Charles-Édouard D’Astous has worked so well has of course also meant a lot.”

D’Astous, a 26-year-old Canadian who was the top defenseman in the Finnish Liiga last season, outscored Söderström by two points this year and has also apparently drawn interest from NHL teams.

According to the Brynäs website the jury for the award described Soderstrom as:

An elegant player on the ice who has been one of the biggest contributors to newcomer Bynäs' record-breaking season in the SHL. Extremely skilled, and also a top-notch point-scorer as a defenseman. Has formed the league's best defenseman pair during the season with Charles-Édouard D’Astous.

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The award for best defenseman in Sweden’s top league was named after Börje Salming in 2008, the same year the legendary defenseman was named to the IIHF’s All-Century Team. Salming died in 2022 from complications related to ALS.

Börje’s older brother Stig Salming was present when Söderström received the Salming Trophy. Both Salming brothers were also Brynäs defensemen.

“Börje would have liked this,” Stig Salming was quoted.

Previous winners of the Salming Trophy

2024-25 Victor Söderström, Brynäs
2023-24 Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Skellefteå
2022-23 Jonathan Pudas, Skellefteå
2021-22 Maja Nylén-Persson, Brynäs
2020-21 Nils Lundkvist, Luleå
2019-20 No winner due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2018-19 Erik Gustafsson, Luleå
2017-18 Lawrence Pilut, HV71
2016-17 Henrik Tömmernes, Frölunda
2015-16 Niclas Burström, Skellefteå
2014-15 Tim Heed, Skellefteå
2013-14 Patrik Hersley, Leksand
2012-13 Magnus Nygren, Färjestad
2011-12 Mattias Ekholm, Brynäs
2010-11 David Rundblad, Skellefteå
2009-10 Magnus Johansson, Linköping
2008-09 Markus Ragnarsson, Djurgården
2007-08 Mikko Luoma, HV71

Jari Kurri – 2024 Börje Salming Courage Award Winner – Is A Controversial Figure In His Home ClubOn Saturday afternoon in Tampere, hours before the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers played the second of two NHL regular-season games in the Finnish city, the NHL Alumni Association made Finnish hockey icon Jari Kurri the second recipient of the Börje Salming Courage Award.

Tomáš Klouček, a former pro hockey defenseman who played 141 NHL games, died as the result of a ski accident on Sunday in his native Czechia at age 45, according to multiple Czech media reports.

The news was confirmed in an Instagram post by his wife, according to Hokej.cz.

“We were hit by sad news – Tomáš Klouček died following a tragic accident,” Oceláři Třinec, one of his former teams, tweeted on X. “The tough defenseman played a total of 90 games for us. We wish his family and loved ones a lot of strength. Our sincere condolences.”

According to reports, Klouček skied into a power pole on the edge of the slope and died from his injuries on the spot. The incident occurred in Špindlerův Mlýn, a popular ski resort in the north of the country near the border with Poland.

Klouček was born in Prague and grew up playing for local club Slavia. He was drafted in 1998 in the fifth round, 151st overall, by the New York Rangers, then went overseas to play for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the QMJHL.

Between 2000 and 2006, Klouček played 141 NHL games for the Rangers, Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers, scoring two goals and adding eight assists for 10 points with 250 penalty minutes. He spent the rest of the time playing for those teams AHL affiliates in Hartford, Milwaukee and Chicago.

A large, physical defenseman, Klouček was 6’4” and weighed 245 lbs.

From 2007 until his retirement in 2017, Klouček played in Czechia, in the KHL and in Slovakia, finishing with his last two seasons for Epinal in France.

Canadian defenseman Éric Gélinas, 33, has agreed to a one-year contract extension with Lukko Rauma, the Finnish Liiga club announced on Monday.

Gélinas joined the club in December and produced 17 points in 21 regular-season games. The 6-foot-4, 227-pound rearguard also had 12-penalty minutes and was a plus-2.

“One of the biggest reasons to continue here is that we have a really strong team,” said Gélinas. “When you reach a certain age, winning championships is what you play for.”

Indeed, Lukko is one of the top contenders to win it all in Finland this season after finishing first overall in the regular season. Lukko ended the regular season on a six-game heater, edging out Ilves Tampere for top spot by one point.

“In addition, the organization welcomed me with open arms, which has been great of course,” he continued. “We have a great atmosphere in the locker room and the chemistry works great, so the decision to continue with Lukko was quite easy.”

“Gélly came to Rauma in really good shape, and it didn’t take long for him to play when he was at full strength on the ice,” Lukko sports director Kalle Sahlstedt said about the defenseman’s mid-season arrival. “He immediately played at an extremely high level.”

Ex-Penguins Prospect Off To Hot Start In Finland Finnish defenseman Niclas Almari was the Pittsburgh Penguins fifth-round choice in 2016 and had three stints with their AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but has played for Lukko Rauma in Finland’s Liiga since early 2022. 

Born in Vanier, Ont. and raised in Saint-Jean, Que., Gélinas played junior hockey for the QMJHL’s Lewiston MAINEiacs, Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Saint John Sea Dogs, winning a Memorial Cup with the latter in 2011.

Chosen in the second round, 54th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Gélinas played 189 NHL games for the Devils and Colorado Avalanche between 2013 and 2017, recording 55 points and 92 penalty minutes. He was also NHL property of the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes.

Other than a nine-game AHL stint in 2021, Gélinas has played in Europe since 2018, with stops in Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Gélinas has not played since Feb. 12 due to an undisclosed injury. Thanks to its finish in the standings, Lukko has a bye through the first round of the playoffs and will open at home in the quarterfinals next Wednesday, March 26 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Also to be determined is exactly when Gélinas will return to the lineup.

Antti Raanta Won’t Return To Geneva – Finland Next? Antti Raanta’s first season back in Europe after ending his NHL career had its ups and downs.