2022–23 SHL season

The 2022–23 SHL season was the 48th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 17 September 2022 and ended on 9 March 2023, where it was then followed by the playoffs and the relegation playoffs.
The Växjö Lakers completed their second league and playoff double in three seasons; having finished three points clear of Skellefteå AIK after the 52-game regular season, the two teams met again in the playoff final with the Lakers prevailing 4–1 in the best-of-seven series.
==Teams==
The league consists of 14 teams; HV71 returned to the SHL after one season in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where they won the 2021–22 title. Djurgårdens IF were relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan, and as a result, Stockholm was not represented by a top-division team for the first time.
Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
Brynäs IF 	Gävle 	Monitor ERP Arena 	7,909
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg	Scandinavium 	12,044
Färjestad BK 	Karlstad 	Löfbergs Arena 	8,647
HV71 	Jönköping 	Husqvarna Garden 	7,000
Leksands IF 	Leksand 	Tegera Arena 	7,650
Linköping HC 	Linköping 	Saab Arena 	8,500
Luleå HF 	Luleå 	Coop Norrbotten Arena 	6,300
Malmö Redhawks	Malmö 	Malmö Arena 	13,000
IK Oskarshamn 	Oskarshamn	Be-Ge Hockey Center 	3,275
Rögle BK 	Ängelholm 	Catena Arena 	5,150
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå	Skellefteå Kraft Arena	6,001
Timrå IK 	Timrå 	NHC Arena 	6,000
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Vida Arena 	5,700
Örebro HK 	Örebro 	Behrn Arena 	5,150
==Regular season==
Each team played 52 games, playing each of the other thirteen teams four times: twice on home ice, and twice away from home. Points were awarded for each game, where three points were awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the league champion.
===Standings===
===Statistics===
====Scoring leaders====
The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	IK Oskarshamn 	51	37	29	66	+20	45
 	IK Oskarshamn 	52	23	38	61	+11	14
 	Rögle BK 	49	23	23	46	–14	14
 	Skellefteå AIK	50	11	34	45	+12	28
 	Skellefteå AIK	48	23	21	44	+19	10
 	IK Oskarshamn 	49	23	20	43	+3 	30
 	HV71 	47	21	21	42	+3 	16
 	Timrå IK 	52	20	22	42	+8 	20
 	IK Oskarshamn 	52	20	22	42	+17	10
 	Örebro HK 	51	19	22	41	–2 	12
====Leading goaltenders====
The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they had played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Växjö Lakers 	31	1850:58	21	9 	50 	8	93.35	1.62
 	Skellefteå AIK	30	1690:59	22	7 	46 	6	92.94	1.63
 	Leksands IF 	41	2364:12	24	16	86 	4	92.07	2.18
 	Luleå HF 	40	2304:41	16	23	84 	6	89.57	2.19
 	Timrå IK 	47	2793:19	24	22	108	4	91.15	2.32
 	Frölunda HC 	41	2336:54	19	19	93 	3	91.01	2.39
 	Örebro HK 	37	2238:12	22	15	93 	2	90.54	2.49
 	Växjö Lakers 	22	1297:20	13	9 	54 	2	89.51	2.50
 	Färjestad BK 	32	1917:37	20	12	81 	2	91.15	2.53
 	IK Oskarshamn 	32	1915:26	18	13	83 	2	92.14	2.60
==Playoffs==
Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth meet each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round.
===Format===
In the first round, the 7th-ranked team meets the 10th-ranked team and the 8th-ranked team meets the 9th-ranked team for a place in the second round. In the second round, the top-ranked team will meet the lowest-ranked winner of the first round, the second-ranked team will face the other winner of the first round, the third-ranked team will face the sixth-ranked team, and the fourth-ranked team will face the fifth-ranked team. In the third round, the highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team is awarded home advantage. The meetings are in the first round played as best-of-three series, and in the later rounds as best-of-seven series. In the eighth-finals, the higher-seeded teams play at home for game 2 (plus 3 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams play at home for game 1. In the later rounds, the higher-seeded teams are at home for games 1 and 3 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary) while the lower-seeded teams are at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 6 if necessary).
===Playoff bracket===
===Eighth-finals===
====(7) IK Oskarshamn vs. (10) Luleå HF====
====(8) Leksands IF vs. (9) Rögle BK====
===Quarter-finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (10) Luleå HF====
====(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Rögle BK====
====(3) Färjestad BK vs. (6) Frölunda HC====
====(4) Örebro HK vs. (5) Timrå IK====
===Semi-finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (6) Frölunda HC====
====(2) Skellefteå AIK vs. (4) Örebro HK====
===Finals===
====(1) Växjö Lakers vs. (2) Skellefteå AIK====
===Statistics===
====Scoring leaders====
The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Skellefteå AIK	17	3	9 	12	+6	12
 	Skellefteå AIK	16	0	12	12	+2	6
 	Skellefteå AIK	17	7	4 	11	+5	0
 	Örebro HK 	13	5	6 	11	+6	10
 	Timrå IK 	7 	2	8 	10	0 	2
 	Växjö Lakers 	18	4	5 	9 	+3	2
 	Örebro HK 	13	1	8 	9 	+8	4
 	Växjö Lakers 	18	1	8 	9 	+7	2
 	Skellefteå AIK	15	5	3 	8 	+4	4
 	Växjö Lakers 	18	5	3 	8 	+2	0
====Leading goaltenders====
The following shows the top five goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Växjö Lakers 	18	1150:09	12	6	25	4	93.80	1.30
 	Skellefteå AIK	16	1048:14	9 	7	25	5	93.21	1.43
 	Frölunda HC 	12	725:10 	6 	6	23	2	92.77	1.90
 	Örebro HK 	12	762:08 	5 	7	27	0	92.26	2.13
 	Leksands IF 	3 	189:48 	1 	2	7 	0	88.33	2.21
==Play Out==
The two bottom-placed teams from the regular season played a best-of-seven series, with the winner remaining in the SHL and the loser relegated to the second tier, the HockeyAllsvenskan. The higher-seeded team held home advantage over the series, playing at home for the odd-numbered games while the lower-seeded team was at home for the even-numbered games.
Brynäs IF's defeat in the series ended their 63-year run in the Swedish top flight.
==SHL awards==
Award 	Winner(s)
Guldhjälmen 	Antti Suomela (IK Oskarshamn)
Guldpucken 	
Honken Trophy 	Linus Söderström (Skellefteå AIK)
Håkan Loob Trophy 	Antti Suomela (IK Oskarshamn)
Rookie of the Year 	
Salming Trophy 	Jonathan Pudas (Skellefteå AIK)
Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy	Emil Larmi (Växjö Lakers)
Guldpipan 	Linus Öhlund
==References==
==External links==
*
*SHL on eurohockey.com
*SHL on eliteprospects.com
2022-23
SHL