Former Los Angeles Kings draft pick Hudson Fasching will take his talents overseas for the first time in his 10-year pro career. The 31-year-old winger has signed a one-year deal with the SHL’s Skellefteå AIK.
He will move to Sweden after playing a full season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
While Fasching was drafted by the Kings, the bulk of his NHL career was spent in New York state. He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2014 in a deal that sent Brayden McNabb, Jonathan Parker, and two second-round picks back to Los Angeles.
Fasching debuted with the Sabres two years later, following the end of his third season at the University of Minnesota. He was relegated to the AHL for most of the 2016-17 season, his first full pro season, and struggled to break back into the top ranks.
Fasching’s career became defined by brief NHL stints sprinkled between extended runs in the minors. He scored 30 points in 69 games during the 2017-18 AHL season, a mark he would continue to flirt with for the rest of his AHL career.
His highest-scoring season came four years later, when he posted 37 points in 51 games with the Tucson Roadrunners.
A 2022 signing with the New York Islanders opened the door to Fasching’s first extended run at the NHL level. He appeared in 49 games with the Islanders during the 2022-23 season, scoring 10 goals and 19 points.
That year was complemented by 11 points in 18 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, a performance strong enough to convince the Islanders to re-sign him to a two-year deal. Fasching’s scoring dwindled on that deal, dropping to 14 points in 45 games in 2023-24 and then just four points in 43 games in 2024-25.
With his AHL scoring also drying up in limited games, the Islanders opted to leave Fasching on the free agent market in 2025.
He signed a two-way deal with the Blue Jackets for last season and spent all of it at the AHL level. That helped his scoring grow again, with Fasching posting 18 points in 65 regular-season games and seven points in nine playoff games.
Those marks will give him momentum as he joins a young Skellefteå lineup. Fasching will be a veteran voice alongside former NHL forwards Oscar Lindberg and Pär Lindholm.
They will lead a cohort of prospects, including Carolina Hurricanes draft picks Viggo Nordlund and Oskar Vuollet. Skellefteå will lean on that offense as they look to follow up their championship-winning 2025-26 season.