HV71 has appointed Niklas Eriksson as head coach and Stefan Klockare as assistant coach ahead of the coming season. Nicklas Rahm remains in his role as assistant. The moves come as the club seeks to fix a defense that has allowed too many goals in recent years.
The club has added only three new players on the roster so far. They are Herman Liv, Noah Philp and Jan Mysak.
Eriksson arrives after ten seasons with Örebro. Klockare joins from four seasons with Tre Kronor and prior work in Skellefteå. Rahm, who has three SM gold medals as an assistant, will again handle the defense.
The team conceded 172, 164 and 175 goals in the regular season over the past three campaigns. Eriksson has stressed the need for discipline with the puck and fewer turnovers that lead to easy goals.
The new staff must also build competition in daily training and identify informal leaders within the group.