It’s been quite a long summer, but finally, hockey is almost back! The Svenska Damhockeyligan (SDHL), Sweden’s top tier pro women’s league, begins its 2026-27 season in a little under a month. As is the case with any league’s offseason, each of the SDHL’s ten teams look quite different from the groups they iced last year. All the player movement can be difficult to keep track of, so here’s the second edition of a two-part look at each team’s offseason moves, and how they stack up heading into opening day on Sept. 9.
If you missed part one, you can find it here. But now onto the remaining teams: Linköping, Luleå, MoDo, SDE, and Skellefteå.
Linköping HC (25-26 Placement: 9th)
Arrivals: F Maddison Achtyl, D Jessica Adolfsson, D Emma Bergesen, F Jess Ciarrocchi, D Hilda Ljungberg, F/D Michelle Löwenhielm, F Cassidy Maplethorpe, F Vendula Přibylová, D Tilde Sjödin
Departures: F Chanreet Bassi, D Lova Blom, F Moa Gustafsson, F Hana Haasová, D Sophie Helgeson, G Jorinde Heller, D Ayaka Hitosato, F Madie Leidt, F Felicia Levin, D Thea Liodden, F Naomi Rogge, D Eve Savander, F Haruka Toko, F Moa Wernblom
PWHL Camp Bound: Adolfsson (Detroit), F Ellie Kaiser (Minnesota), Löwenhielm (Toronto)
For a team so heavily reliant on a single player, there is so much going on here. Like HV71, Linköping’s potential losses to the PWHL aren’t going to make or break their championship hopes, but they’ve got to be fed up with the Sceptres at this point given last year’s nosedive following Sara Hjalmarsson’s departure. Thankfully, a couple new faces brought in to try and shore up a league-worst offense will be guaranteed to stick around. Longtime Czech national team forward Přibylová was a solid contributor on a MoDo team that comfortably made the playoffs last season, while Maplethorpe absolutely torched the Nationella Damhockeyligan (NDHL) to the tune of nearly three points per game in 2025-26.
Bergesen, Ljungberg, and however much they get out of Adolfsson and Löwenhielm are very nice additions defensively, though they were necessitated by the exits of Blom, Helgeson, Hitosato, Liodden, and Savander. Nonetheless, with reigning MVP Ebba Svensson Träff still controlling the crease, low-scoring hockey is to be expected even amidst all the roster turnover.
Grade: B-
Luleå HF (25-26 Placement: 3rd)
Arrivals: F Fanny Aneborn, D Nella Berg, F Madison Chantler, F Ebba Hedqvist, F Mei Miura, D Aoi Shiga
Departures: F Sarah Bujold, D Johanna Fällman, F Linnéa Johansson, D Charli Kettyle, D Nadia Mattivi, F Petra Nieminen, D Erica Rieder, F Akane Shiga, D Cameron Sikich, D Tilde Sjödin, D Elina Sydenhag
PWHL Camp Bound: N/A
Luleå is responsible for the two biggest shocks of the offseason: poaching Hedqvist from MoDo, and the fact that Shiga is listed under departures even after signing Aoi and Miura. As strong as their additions may be, Luleå’s losses were simply too heavy for me to be able to consider their offseason good overall. The team’s best chance at maintaining a spot in the SDHL’s upper echelon, though, is through internal development. Young defenders Astrid Lindeberg and Hedvig Sturk, who have each spent over half a decade in Luleå’s system, are set to step into bigger roles, while forward Inez Nygren already put up double-digit points as a 17-year-old and is only going to improve. Wilma Sjölund proving her breakout season wasn’t just a product of Nieminen would help immensely, as well.
Grade: C
MoDo Hockey (25-26 Placement: 5th)
Arrivals: D Anna Andersson, F Nina Christof, D Emma Goding, D Ellen Jarabková, F Charlotte Sonntag, F Sara Stewart, F Moa Wernblom
Departures: D Elsa Åberg, D Linnéa Andersson, F Neena Brick, F Lovisa Engström, D Iris Grini, F Ebba Hedqvist, D Ebba Lindberg, F Alexis Paddington, F Vendula Přibylová, F Justine Reyes, D Aoi Shiga, F Wilma Sundin
PWHL Camp Bound: Stewart (Hamilton)
And now, least but not last…
Hedqvist, MoDo’s leading scorer? Off to Luleå. Their top defense pair of Andersson and Shiga? Frölunda and Luleå, respectively. Engström, the league’s top rookie and Sundin, a would-be Olympian were it not for a season-ending injury? Both to Brynäs. Solid middle-six scorers in Přibylová, Reyes, and Brick? Linköping, Jönköping, and Seattle via Ottawa. If you thought the exodus was limited to just on the ice? Even head coach Jared Cipparone is off to Göteborg as the successor to Erika Holst. MoDo at least has imports Sarah Marchand and Aly McLeod still under contract, but neither are off the table for a PWHL camp invite, especially Marchand. The only sure things on this roster are goaltender Tindra Holm and forward Mira Hallin, but leaning so heavily on them à la Linköping is going to get them nowhere fast.
Grade: F
SDE HF (25-26 Placement: 4th)
Arrivals: F Anna Brenkle, F Sarah Davies, G Martina Fedel, F Laurence Frenette, F Malou Hassinen, F Alyson Hush, D Teghan Inglis, F Emmi Juusela, F Felicia Levin, F Alexia Moreau, F Zsófia Pázmándi, D Olivia Sohrner, D Selma Tyreskog, D Alva Vitalisson
Departures: D Jessica Adolfsson, F Samantha Cogan, F Gabrielle David, F Lisa Johansson, F Alva Johnsson, F Gabby Jones, D Silje Kongstorp Johansen, D Dominika Lásková, D Hilda Ljungberg, F Anneke Rankila, G Kassidy Sauvé, F Julie Zwarthoed
PWHL Camp Bound: F Mathea Fischer (Toronto), F Tereza Pištěková (Ottawa)
Icing a roster with fewer returning players than new ones creates extremely varied results, and the question becomes whether it will end up a productive process or an unmitigated disaster. Thankfully for SDE, they’re shaping up to be the former. The departure of star forwards Cogan and David has forced the team to take a different approach to the season, yet one that rhymes. SDE landed an absolute haul out of the NCAA. Davies, Frenette, Hush, Moreau, and Pázmándi are all set to heavily factor into their offense, especially with Fischer and Pištěková off to Canada for November and potentially beyond.
As for intraleague movement, Brenkle, Inglis, Levin, Sohrner, and Tyreskog were all solid enough in their middle-of-the-lineup roles for their previous teams that any one of them could step up given greater opportunity. While Sauvé jumping ship would sink most groups, SDE held onto the other half of their elite goaltending tandem in Emma Söderberg, and added another solid netminding option in Italian Olympian Fedel. If this team of numerous new faces manage to gel together in relatively short order, watch out for SDE.
Grade: A-
Skellefteå AIK (25-26 Placement: 6th)
Arrivals: F Evelina Arvidsson, F Brianna Brooks, D Payten Evans, D Emma Forsgren, F Evie-Mae Tindale
Departures: F Line Grahn, F Vilma Granlund, D Sini Karjalainen, F Nicoline Söndergaard Jensen, D Moa Viklund
PWHL Camp Bound: N/A
Skellefteå’s always been a tough team for me to gauge, and with minimal traffic both in and out of the organization, it seems they’ll continue to be. They’ve kept core pieces at every position, extending top three scorers Jenna Pirrtijärvi, Ida Kuoppala, and Celine Tedenby, re-upping captain Malou Berggren, and running back the tandem of Camryn Drever and Miranda Dahlgren. Although Karjalainen and Söndergaard Jensen leaving are big hits, they’re offset by big gets in Brooks, Evans, and Forsgren. A key change for Skellefteå though, despite not being listed above, is getting more than two games out of Tilia Lindgren, who nonetheless netted two goals as a 15-year-old last season.
Speaking of 15-year-olds; while British forward Tindale is an absolutely fascinating signing, her true impact for Skellefteå likely lies beyond the 26-27 season. For now, just go look at her EliteProspects page. Much like the segue into this paragraph, it’s kind of ridiculous.
