1. Reflections (3 TPE, 170 words)
After a rookie season with 18 points over 50 games, the expectations had increased for recent 8th overall SHL draft pick Alex Oscarsson. And he had a regular season to remember 37 points in his sophmore campaign became the total after dropping off towards the middle after an insane start to the season. The newly appointed assistant captain of the Maine Timber played on a beautiful line with Kyle Sutton and Patrick Shepherd for the bigger part of the season establishing themselves as a top tier line in the league.

As for next season, there will be some big shoes to fill both on and off the ice. The two other players in the captains trio MAS and Valentin Kalashnikov are both set to leave for the big leagues, creating a huge hole on the team. You will also see newly acquired Rikard Hammerberg get promoted. For Alex, he needs to step up even more when it comes to the off-ice part to make sure the semi-finalists stay on top.


2. Expansion draft (3 TPE, 155 words)
For the expansion draft it will become very interesting to see what Atlanta does. Hotdog has a huge history with New England, so who will he choose from over there? One of the best dmen in the league got left exposed by Buffalo. Will Seattle take a shot at him? Or is the brilliant talent of Alexander Roach too much of a draw?

The most important things for these expansion teams are finding the right people to start building the right culture. With both the expansion draft and the regular draft coming up, they'll have a ton of difficult choices to make.

I can see Atlanta looking to become more competitive earlier. Having Eko Van Otter on the team is an insane boost to anyone, especially for an expansion team. At earliest we are still talking 5-6 seasons for Atlanta, while you can probably expect to see Seattle fully contending by season 7 or 8.


3. SHL expansions overseas? (2 TPE, 109 words)
I would love to see some overseas expansions for the novelty of it. But there are still some good locations around the US and Canada to be explored before that, and it should only be done if the expansion bid is a clear tier above anything else.

The hardest thing to pin down is where do they play? Will they play over at their European country of origin, or will they have a remote location in North America where they play some games? Homestands maybe? I think there are more logistical role playing things to be figured out before we can see it as a reality for the SHL.


5. IIHF/WJC (3 TPE, 154 words)
I'm gonna be a boring homer and answer Sweden on both questions.

For the IIHF, I think they have one of the most exciting rosters that is still up and coming. Some players in their prime of course, but this is a team that will only get better. Lead by Ola Wagstrom offensively, they can definitely turn it on at a moments notice.

As for the WJC, we saw some graduates go out last year. Most notably, Sven Yxskaft and Taylor Johansson. But, this is still a team that you can count on. You will see Rikard Bjerg and DuBölk take bigger responsibilities on the ice, and Hammerberg looking to be the leading offensive player beside his Maine partner Oscarsson. You also have Sven Svenson, Kwame Dakari and others to lead the charge offensively. Jerry Huuveri will once again stand in net, looking to take revenge for last years untimely defeat in the quarterfinals.


6. TikTok (2 TPE, 101 words)
I think there is only one answer to this, and it's gotta be (clean) Andrei Kostitsyn. The guy is a character beyond belief, and has made himself a name around the league as an extremely humble, unique personality that is not afraid of the spotlight. Most of his content would of course be about finding the current origins of his brother Sergei, but I don't think there is anyone out there denying their willingness to hear about that.
Clean would bring in so many new viewers to the SHL just from his incredible following coming from TikTok. Andrei leads the way.


16. CW Trivia (3 TPE)
milk