Norwegian
forward Mathias Emilio Pettersen, 25, has signed a two-year contract
with Djurgården IF, the Stockholm-based SHL club announced on
Monday.
“I’m
super excited to play the next two years with Djurgården,”
Pettersen is quoted in the
club’s announcement. “I’m incredibly excited to play in
front of a packed Hovet (the team’s home rink) and the best fans in
all of hockey.”
For
Pettersen, this marks a return to Europe after playing overseas since
2014.
“He
has come a long way in North America with college
hockey
and a number of years in the AHL,”
said
Djurgården GM Niklas Wikegård.
“Emilio is already very talented, but we believe we can make him
even better.”
Pettersen
was
born in Manglerud, Norway but at the age of 14, went
overseas to play youth hockey in Connecticut.
He then spent two seasons in the USHL
and was drafted by the Calgary
Flames in the sixth round, 167th
overall, in 2018. That was followed by two years at the University of
Denver.
Report: Anton Frondell Will Sign With Blackhawks This Week; Won’t Attend Training Camp
Swedish center Anton Frondell will sign an entry-level contract this
upcoming week with the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that took him
third overall at this year’s NHL Entry Draft, according to Swedish
journalist Gunnar
Nordström.
Between
2020
and 2025, the 5-foot-10, 178-pound Pettersen played 322 AHL regular-season and playoff games
for the Stockton Heat, Calgary Wranglers and Texas Stars, recording
164 points and 144 penalty minutes. In 2024, he was traded by the
Flames to the Dallas
Stars for Riley Damiani, but the only NHL games he played for
either organization were in the preseason.
Internationally, Pettersen has represented Norway at two IIHF U-18 World Championships and one World Junior Championship – all at the Division I Group A level – and at two senior-elite-level World Championships.
Pettersen
joins a Djurgården team that was just promoted to the SHL from the
second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan but is trying to build a competitive
roster. The team will notably feature two 18-year-old forwards who
were chosen in the first round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft –
Victor
Eklund and Anton
Frondell.
In
addition to Pettersen,
Eklund and Frondell, Djurgården’s lineup for the upcoming season
will also include veteran center Marcus Krüger, who was a two-time
Stanley Cup champion with the
Chicago
Blackhawks, Finnish
right winger Jesse Ylönen, Swedish
defenseman Gustav Lindström,
and Swedish goaltender Magnus Hellberg.
Photo © Bob Frid-Imagn Images.
Swedish winger Victor Eklund, 18, has signed a three-year entry-level
contract with the New
York Islanders, the team that drafted him 16th overall
at the recent NHL Entry Draft, the
club announced on Monday.
Read the full article here
