The Sarnia Sting's leading scorer from last season won't be returning to the OHL club next year.
Hugo Leufvenius has signed on with Karlskrona HK in his home country of Sweden.
Leufvenius had a team-best 37 goals and 44 assists in 66 games this past year.
In his two seasons with the Sting, he put up 56 goals and 72 assists for 128 points over 134 regular season games. He added another 16 points in 16 playoff contests.
Sting GM Nick Sinclair said Leufvenius was a big part of the team and will be missed.
"He's been an important player ever since he came over," said Sinclair. "He's made progress in the past two years. In the playoffs last year he was one of our top guys and his performance was outstanding. He kind of took his game to another level through the two rounds of the playoffs last season and carried that forward this year. It's great to see, he deserves it and is going to do well over there. As much as we'll miss him and would love to have him here still, that's part of the process and Hugo has done everything possible to get that opportunity. We're really excited for him."
Leufvenius would have been an overager next season, and having overage import players in the OHL is rare.
He was originally selected by the Sting 22nd overall in the 2017 CHL Import Draft.
Sinclair said the Sting will now be able to make two selections in this year's import draft with the trade of Adam Ruzicka to Sudbury at the deadline.
"We'll do all we can to try and bring in two players that are going to contribute in a big way to our team right away, and hopefully we'll be able to do that. I'm excited about that opportunity and what the group could look like with two possible future additions that can come in and help our team out."
The CHL Import Draft usually takes place in late June or early July.
