Djurgården is retooling for the SHL season with Nils Åman at the helm

The three junior world champions Anton Frondell, Viggo Björck and Victor Eklund have all landed on the other side of the Atlantic to play in the NHL. Last year's scoring king Joey LaLeggia has also left Djurgården. Now the club has retooled for the start of the series on September 19.

Ahead of the premiere, which will be played in the Avicii Arena with newcomer Björklöven in the away booth, eight new players have joined the club. One name that stands out is Nils Åman.

Åman left Sweden and Leksand in 2022 for games in North America. There he played 137 games in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks and 123 AHL games for the farm team Abbotsford.

Heading into his third full SHL season, Åman feels he has improved a lot since playing his second.

- Yes, but it is clear that I am a completely different player. When I played in Leksand in 2022, I had a more defensive role. I played in the third and fourth chain, so I didn't have a lot of playing time. I've pretty much developed my whole game, all over the course.

When the 26-year-old center returned home to Sweden after four seasons, several teams were interested in him. Leksand and Frölunda were particularly interested, but in the end it was the Stockholm team that got to present the Avestasonen.

- They (Djurgården) got in touch early in the season and I had a good buzz with them. Then when it became clear that I was going back to Europe, Djurgården felt like a very good alternative.

When the club got rid of scoring-heavy names, such as the shooting king Frondell and the scoring king LaLeggia, there is pressure on the new acquisitions to produce. Especially at Åman, who scored 41 points in 55 games and won the internal scoring league in Abbotsford last season.

- I try to leave that out. If you do the hard work and play your game, the points usually roll in. It will come when it comes.

However, Åman is not the only new acquisition who will be a key player in the coming season. Among the additions of the season are, for example, Lukas Vejdemo, who scored 18 goals in the Leksandsträyan last season, and the high-scoring defender Lucas Carlsson.

Team captain Marcus Krüger, who recently extended his contract, is satisfied with what the club has done during the summer. With a, as he calls it, "more mature team", he hopes that Djurgården can take the next step next season.

- We have lost some juniors who, especially in the latter part of the season, were a support for us. But on the other hand, we have brought in Nils (Åman), Sebastian (Hartmann), Lukas (Vejdemo) and Lucas (Carlsson) as well as other good players who might give the team a slightly more even age.

Last season, Djurgården, who were then newcomers to the league, ended up in ninth place in the regular season. Then there were only three games in the playoffs before they were eliminated by Malmö in the round of 16.

- You never want to be satisfied with just being there and participating. You can zoom out a bit and see that we were newcomers then, but we are not anymore. We are humbled because it is a tough league, but I like what we have done in the pre-season and would like us to do better than last year, says Krüger.