Nicklas Backstrom is set for a return to on-ice action for the first time since the beginning of the 2023-24 NHL season. Backstrom signed a one-year contract with Brynäs IF of the SHL late last month, returning to the club where he started his professional career.
The return from injury that prematurely ended his NHL career with the Washington Capitals will be a potential boon for Brynäs and, apparently, also the Swedish national team. Sweden’s coach, Sam Hallam, recently spoke with NHL.com’s Janne Bengtsson about the nation’s roster decisions for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics and mentioned that Backstrom remains a candidate for selection.
“Of course we will watch him,” Hallam told Bengtsson. “First of all, it is very nice that ‘Backy’ is healthy enough to play. I don’t think he would have jumped on that task if he didn’t feel he could contribute. So for hockey at home in Sweden and the SHL, it is great.”
In 2014, Sweden made it to the gold medal game. However, Backstrom was barred from playing in the final after a drug test indicated doping due to an allergy medication containing pseudoephedrine. Sweden would go on to lose 3-0 to Canada and take home a silver medal.
Backstrom’s medal was withheld until a 2015 appeal when he, the IOC, WADA, and the IIHF agreed to a settlement in which he accepted a reprimand but was cleared of attempting to enhance his performance. He later returned to national team play for the 2016-17 season, playing for Sweden at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2017 World Championship.
Brynäs was the SHL’s best regular season team this past year and is expected to compete for that spot again during the 2015-26 season. The team’s management plans to delay Backstrom’s re-debut in the SHL, but the team’s sports director, Johan Alcen, hinted that it could come as soon as early October.
While Backstrom may be back on Hallam’s radar, he’ll have to beat out heavy NHL competition at center to earn a spot on the Olympic roster. Elias Pettersson, Mika Zibanejad, Joel Eriksson Ek, Leo Carlsson, and William Karlsson are just some of the names vying to get on Sweden’s roster.
