Bobby Nardella leaves the Capitals organisation and gets a one-year deal with SHL’s HV71.
Bobby Nardella is leaving the Washington Capitals four years after joining the team out of the University of Notre Dame.
Nardella has signed a one-year contract with HV71 and will return to Sweden, where he played 47 games for Djurgardens IF in 2020-21, scoring a team-high 33 points (7 goals, 26 assists).
“I have only heard good things about HV71 and Jönköping, and I know that it is a club with a lot of history and many fans,” Nardella said in a press statement translated by Google Translate. “I hope to contribute with a strong offence and produce points going forward, but also be a reliable two-way [defender] and who puts a lot of value in the defensive game.”
“In Bobby, we get an extremely skilled offensive [defender], but who also has upside on the defensive end,” Kent Norberg, HV71’s sports manager, stated. “He impressed me greatly during his year in Djurgården and will further strengthen our back side.”
The 27-year-old blueliner became a free agency this summer after the two-year deal he signed with the Capitals in June 2021 expired. Last season, Nardella played the most AHL games of his career (61) and scored 28 points (7g, 21a). However, his position diminished throughout the season, and he appeared in only one of Hershey’s postseason games during their Calder Cup championship run.
Nardella will join fellow 2023 Calder Cup champion Henrik Borgstrom on the HV71 roster. The SHL club has also signed former NHL players Anton Stralman, Joni Ortio, and Mattias Tendenby, as well as Oscar Fisker Molgaard, a highly regarded Seattle Kraken prospect.
Nardella is the second Hershey 2023 Cup-winning defenceman to depart for Sweden in recent days. Gabriel Carlsson signed a three-year contract with the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers HC after being non-tendered by the Caps in late June.
The Bears have already signed or re-signed Aaron Ness, Chase Priskie, Jake Massie, Nick Leivermann, Benton Maass, Logan Day, Dylan McIlrath, and Michael Kim to fill the fresh openings on their back end. These individuals will join Vincent Iorio, Lucas Johansen, and Hardy Haman Aktell in Hershey’s defensive lineup.
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