Three ex-Toronto Maple Leafs are all teammates in Sweden

If you know anything about the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you’re probably aware of their long-standing connections to Sweden.

From Borje Salming to Mats Sundin to William Nylander, Swedes have always been a big part of the fabric of the Leafs since more European players began to come to the NHL in the 1970s.

But if you find yourself travelling through Sweden, you might come across three former Leafs, all skating in the same game.

Skelleftea AIK is the defending Swedish Hockey League league champion, and they’ve been using some old Toronto players to help them with their success over the past few seasons.

Forward Par Lindholm is the longest-tenured member of the team, now in his tenth season, though he took three years off in the middle to test out an NHL career while also playing 29 games in the KHL in 2021-22. Lindholm played 61 games for Toronto in 2018-19, scoring one goal while adding 11 assists.

Andreas Johnsson might be the most recognizable former Leaf on the team, now in his second year back in Sweden after failing to stick in the NHL on three different franchises, also spending time with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils after being traded away from Toronto. He eventually signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins but saw his contract terminated before he played a game and opted to head back to his home country.

While Johnsson and Lindholm are both Swedes, Latvian forward Martins Dzierkals also has a connection to the Leafs, being picked by them in the third round of the 2015 NHL entry draft.

Though he only suited up in preseason games and four AHL games with the Toronto Marlies, Dzierkals remained among Toronto’s top prospects during much of his tenure with the team. The youngest of the three former Leafs products, he’s been in Europe ever since 2018-19 when he played in the KHL with Riga Dynamo in his home country..

The Swedish playoffs get underway on Thursday after a 52-game regular season. In a 14-team league where 10 teams make the playoffs, Skelleftea AIK has a bye through to the quarterfinals, where they will face Färjestad BK in a best-of-seven series beginning later this month.