Former Boston Bruins forward Oskar Steen will return to the team that helped develop him after he signed a five-year deal with Färjestad of the Swedish Hockey League, the team announced on Saturday.
“It feels fantastically fun. In some way, you have longed for this day, even if you might have hoped that you would manage to stay a little longer over there,” Steen said in a statement from the team, via Google Translate. “But Färjestad is the team in my heart and I enjoy myself very well in Karlstad, so it feels incredibly good.”
Steen, who will return home to Sweden, spent most of his time with the Providence, but logged 60 NHL games with the Bruins.
The forward’s agent, Joakim Persson, confirmed to the VF outlet in June that the free-agent-to-be will be looking for a new team. NHL free agency officially begins July 1.
“Boston has given us permission to already start talking to other teams to see what interest there is,” Persson told VF, via Google translate. “So those are the conversations we are in the middle of now, and I’m going over to Vegas for the NHL draft on (June) 28-29 and continue to have conversations and dialogues there.”
Steen was placed on waivers by Boston in February and returned to Providence. In 34 games for the Bruins, he amassed just one point — a goal on Nov. 14 against the Buffalo Sabres. Steen finished the 2023-24 season with Providence after clearing waivers.
The 26-year-old finished with 16 points (12 goals, four assists) in 25 games for Providence.
After getting eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said he expects to be “aggressive” this summer.
The GM did that by signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, while also adding a slew of depth pieces which left Steen without a job in Boston’s organization.
