BODIN: Eight SHL Free Agents of NHL Interest

Necessity is the mother of invention, and NHL teams are becoming increasingly inventive when filling out their rosters with the pressure of the salary cap bearing down on them.

One way to do this is to try to find bargains on the European free agent market.

While it’s not common to score a star player like the Chicago Blackhawks once did with Artemi Panarin, several teams have found good value in players they have added this way. And more than a few times, these players have been from Sweden.

Since the agreement between the Swedish federation/Swedish top league and the NHL makes it possible for players to get out of their contracts to go to North America, NHL teams can sign any player that hasn’t been drafted or are no longer ”owned” by other NHL teams.

Skaters like Pär Lindholm, Lawrence