A couple weeks ago, we were told by Swedish news outlet Expressen that Joakim Andersson was preparing to sign a contract to play in the SHL next season. Today, we have as strong a confirmation as you’re going to get:
That’s a screenshot from this video posted on Örebro’s official team website where Andersson announces that he’s joining the team. I’d say that’s a real super-duper strong hint he’s gone, but just in case you want to read another Expressen article on it, they have it as well.
Andersson, now 27, came to North America from the SHL back in 2010, splitting time between the Red Wings and Griffins before becoming a full-time Wing in 2013 after winning the Calder Cup with the Grand Rapids Griffins centering the top line between Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar. Joker established himself as a fourth-line defensive forward in the NHL level, playing 232 games totaling 17 goals and 44 points in that time.
Unfortunately, Andersson couldn’t hold off the tide of prospects beneath him and ended up passing through waivers this season and being assigned to Grand Rapids. He came back up late in the season and played all five playoff games, notching one assist in that time, but the writing was on the wall. Andersson was on a one-year deal that ended his restricted free agency and it wasn’t likely the Wings were going to re-sign him anyway. This just confirms it.
