According to Expressen, a Swedish news outlet, ex-New Jersey Devil Mike Hardman has verbally agreed to a contract with the SHL's HV71 organization. No official contract has been announced, but the team's sports director did not deny the report.
Hardman, 27, most recently played a full campaign with the Utica Comets in 2025-26, producing 10 goals and 11 assists in 58 games in a bottom-six capacity. The 6'2", 205-pound, undrafted power winger spent two years within the Devils' organization, playing the majority of 2024-25 in the AHL as well.
He did get a cup of coffee in the big leagues with New Jersey two years ago, though, logging two games as an injury call-up in that 2024-25 season. He earned an assist -- one of just six NHL points in his 39-game career. Hardman spent the rest of that campaign with Utica, ultimately accruing 18 goals and 35 total points in 58 games.
While the 27-year-old Hardman never really earned an NHL role, he was a capable enough stopgap AHLer in the last two seasons, ultimately not making the cut for a new-look Utica team but still producing reasonably well considering the talent around him. In his jump to the SHL, he is joining another ex-Devil in Santeri Hatakka, who was a cult fan favorite in some Devils circles.
HV71 finished second to last in the SHL in 2025-26, so the hope is that Hardman will be able to provide them with positive value while presumably logging middle-six deployment and penalty killing time. After all, the AHL and SHL are reasonably comparable (though modern NHLe models seem to favor the overseas league a bit more in terms of league quality), and Hardman produced at a reasonable clip.
Hardman was never getting inked to another deal with the Comets after their philosophy completely changed, but it is a bit surprising that he wasn't offered at least an AHL deal in another organization. Perhaps it is because he now counts as a "veteran" player in the minor leagues by virtue of how many professional games he has under his belt (318), or perhaps it is because no one is confident enough in his talent as a fringe call-up candidate to offer him a deal.
Regardless, you'll be able to catch him in SHL games in 2026-27.
Add us as a preferred source on Google