Öhlund looking for a change of scenery

- Plainly, I want to to try something new. It's going to be fun to see what happens this summer and which NHL teams that are interested.

That is what Vancouver's Swedish defenseman Mattias Öhlund said to Norrländska Socialdemokraten about his future. Öhlund, who has spent all his 11 NHL seasons with the Canucks, will be testing the market on July 1. He doesn't have a favorite team to end up on though. At least not one that he is willing to admit about.

- No, not really. This is a family decision, where a lot factors will play in. But at my age, it would of course be fun to end up in a club with a decent chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

Detroit together with Tomas Holmström?
- That would of course be fun. But it's nothing we have talked about.

To explain that last question: Holmström and Öhlund are from Piteå, a town in northern Sweden, and both have played on the same teams (Piteå HC and Luleå HF) back in Sweden.

Öhlund also says in the article that he will keep on playing in the NHL for another 3-4 years and then head back home to Sweden. Either to his hometown Piteå or to Stockholm, where he has a lot of his friends.
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Hävelid returns to Sweden

Swedish defenseman Niclas Hävelid has signed a one-year contract plus an option for another year with SEL team Linköping.

There have been a lot of talks about him returning to Sweden after this season. The discussions have been more about where in Sweden he would end up though rather than if.

In Linköping, Niclas will join his brother Magnus Hävelid, who is the assistant coach, and his good friend Johan Hemlin, the GM of Linköping.

Niclas Hävelid, who finished the current season with the New Jersey Devils, will now try to join the unique group of players that have won the Swedish Championship, the World Championship and the Olympics as he already has won the later two. He never got to win the Stanley Cup though in his 9 seasons in the NHL.
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