The 2025-2026 SDHL Playoffs Preview
The SDHL playoffs open this week and it’s time for the proof to shine on who deserves the title in the second best league in the world. From a Czech perspective, this first round is unusually rich. You’ve got a contender built around the blue line, a new-look SDE that’s actually producing offense from Czech players in meaningful roles, and a Djurgården group that feels like a snapshot of some exciting talent waiting in the national team’s wings. Below is what matters, what’s real, and what could flip quickly. (Not covered here is the other quarterfinal match-up which features ‘zero’ Czech players. Frölunda vs. Färjestad)
Matchup 1: Brynäs vs Skellefteå
The cleanest “favorites vs underdog” series and a spotlight on Čajanová and Pešlarová
On the table, Brynäs look like a team that should be able to manage this in a best-of-five. They finished in the top tier all year, scored comfortably more than they allowed, and generally didn’t rely on chaos hockey to win games. Skellefteå’s pathway is pretty straightforward, they need to keep games low-event, survive special teams, and get at least one game where the top end of Brynäs is held to “good looks but not goals.” If Skellefteå can steal one early, then the series starts to feel uncomfortable for the favorite.
Sára Čajanová’s leap is real. Čajanová’s production jump matters because it usually tracks with trust. She went from 14 points in 28 games last season to 25 points this season, tied for her best performance in her career. But regardless of the point total, the way Brynäs have used her is the bigger story than the raw totals. She’s been deployed like someone the team expects to touch the game, especially on the power play, where she’s been working alongside the club’s established offensive engines (including Noora Tulus and Vivi Vainikka). That role fits what we just watched at the Olympics too where she looked composed, decisive, and comfortable in big minutes. If Brynäs control this series, Čajanová’s puck touches (first pass, blue-line decisions, PP pace) will be a big reason why.
Klára Pešlarová: a season that’s been “good,” but not simple. This year has been interesting because it’s not the clean storyline we all expected. Pešlarová came back to Brynäs after her PWHL stint (where she absolutely won over a lot of Boston fans). The logic made sense, steadier minutes, a familiar environment, and an Olympics-first development runway. But Brynäs have had a twist. Ena Nyström has been excellent, and statistically she’s been the more dominant goalie over the full SDHL season. That’s not an indictment of Pešlarová, more a reminder that role certainty is never guaranteed when the other goalie is playing out of her mind.
Now, the Olympics piece is important here. Czechia played a tough game against the USA where goals slipped in that she would have aboslutely wanted back upon second look, and they without question turned the game into one that got away. And it goes without question, that in a close quarterfinal match-up vs. Sweden, the lone goal that went against her, was in some respects one in 9/10 times she plays differently. That said, Pešlarová’s tournament numbers overall were strong (including a shutout), so the fairest framing is a memorable wobble in a game Czechia wanted badly, inside a larger body of work that was generally solid.
Brynäs should be fine here if they stay disciplined and let their structure and special teams do the heavy lifting. Skellefteå need goaltending variance and at least one night where Brynäs’ top unit looks human.
Matchup 2: SDE vs MoDo
The tightest matchup and a Czech reason SDE look more dangerous than last season
If you’re looking for the series most likely to go the distance, this is the one. The standings gap isn’t huge, and both teams are built to win different kinds of games. This feels like a series where one coaching adjustment, one goalie run, one special-teams swing could decide the whole thing.
SDE didn’t just climb the table they played like a sturdier top-four team over the full year. Their goal differential improved significantly, and they’ve been more consistent about turning good spells into results. From our Czech angle, the most relevant reason is simple in that they added production, and that production has come from Czech players in high-leverage roles.
Tereza Pištěková: immediate top-of-lineup impact. Pištěková has been top-four in team scoring and finished with 25 points, which is exactly what you want from a major addition, reliable offense without needing perfect conditions to produce. She was even one point better than last year, she was at 24 points the prior season with Djurgården, so she didn’t just maintain her floor after switching teams, she nudged it upward while learning a new environment.
Pištěková is one of the young players that we are always excited and thrilled to watch week in, week out. She has the pace and hockey IQ to make good plays on offense that shift momentum, and if SDE are to challenge or be a surprise contender, she will definitely be a big reason.
Dominika Lásková. Lásková’s season is one of the more satisfying reset stories in this league. After a complicated stretch that included major injury recovery, leaving the PWHL, trying to get her game and rhythm back, she delivered her best professional production season, putting up 20 points in 34 games and finishing as SDE’s second-highest scoring defender. In playoff hockey, blue-line offense changes matchups and her game can force forechecks to respect point shots, she stretches penalty kills, and she gives SDE another way to score when the slot gets clogged.
We could not be any happier for her redemption arc at a club that is leaning on her with top minutes and confidence that she can contribute two-ways up and down the ice. We just may see an even different level to her game this playoffs, and time will tell if we see her make that leap.
MoDo
MoDo’s year looks more like a step back compared to their previous season, but they still defend well enough to make this series annoying for SDE. Vendula Příbylová’s storyline is exactly what she’s been all year, she’s not the headline producer, but she’s a steady presence. Even in an Olympics where she wasn’t a standout on the scoresheet, she brought veteran composure which we noticed explicitly. player tends to matter more in a best-of-five, where one bad period can cost you half a series.
SDE feel like the team with more ways to generate offense, especially with Pištěková and Lásková contributing directly. MoDo’s best route is to keep games tight, deny clean entries, and force SDE to score through traffic instead of off structure.
Matchup 3: Luleå vs Djurgårdens
A tough draw, but a perfect development measuring stick for three Czech players
This is the most difficult matchup on paper. Luleå were elite all season: deep, structured, and comfortable playing playoff-style hockey before the playoffs even start. They are the OVERWHELMING favorites here. In a short series their profile is brutal for lower seeds because Luleå don’t need miracles to win, they just need to be themselves. For Djurgårdens, the interest is obvious, there’s a bit of a mini Czech pipeline here, all at different stages, all getting tested immediately by the league’s best team.
Linda Vocetková: a genuine step forward, right before her next chapter. Vocetková’s regular season line, 15 points, won’t scare the league’s top defenders, but it’s a major jump relative to her previous output with the club. For an 18-year-old, she’s shown real improvement against women’s pro competition, and that matters more than whether it’s 15 points or 25. And with her NCAA move (to Colgate) ahead, this is a great moment to see what she looks like when the pace ramps up and space disappears. The playoff environment will tell you a lot about how quickly her game is translating.
Barbora Bartáková: a strong rookie baseline. Bartáková finishing with 12 points in her rookie SDHL season is a good sign, especially in a bottom-half team context where offense can be hard to come by. She’s older for a “rookie” at 22, but the runway is still there, this is the kind of first season that suggests she belongs and can build, and we’ve been big fans of hers based on her performance back home in Czechia
Klára Jandušíková. Jandušíková logged games but finished with zero points, which usually signals a specific role that denotes safe shifts, defensive reads, low-risk hockey, nothing crazy. Against Luleå, those minutes get stress-tested. Even if Djurgårdens don’t win the series, it’s valuable tape for a first SDHL season.
Djurgårdens need one game where they win the first ten minutes, get momentum, get a power play, make Luleå chase a lead. If Luleå score first and settle in, this can turn into long stretches of defending.
What to watch
Čajanová’s power play influence: if Brynäs’ PP dictates games, the series ends quickly.
Brynäs’ crease management: whether it’s Pešlarová, Nyström, or a split, stability matters more than labels for this team right now.
SDE’s Czech-driven offense: Pištěková and Lásková have changed what SDE can be. Now we see if it holds under playoff pressure.
Djurgårdens’ youth vs Luleå’s structure: this is a tough draw, but it’s one of the best ‘where are they really at?” tests we can get.
