Wolves run sparks overseas moves for Noah Gunler, Juuso Välimäki

Noah Gunler and Juuso Välimäki have both left the Chicago Wolves for the Swedish Hockey League, and the timing hits a club that was still riding the afterglow of a Calder Cup Finals run to Game 5. Gunler is headed to Djurgårdens IF, while Välimäki has signed with Brynäs IF, two departures that cut directly into Chicago’s forward skill and blue-line mobility after the Wolves beat Toronto 4-3 in overtime in Game 4 on June 18 to force the winner-take-all finale.

Gunler’s exit removes one of the Wolves’ most productive and familiar offensive pieces. He finished the regular season with 35 points in 71 games, including 15 goals, 20 assists, four power-play goals and three game-winning goals, then added two goals and five assists in 21 playoff games. Over his last two seasons back in North America, Gunler totaled 61 points in 129 AHL games, a pace that showed real value even if he never fully locked down a top-six role in Chicago. He has spent four of the last five seasons in Chicago, with one Liiga season breaking up that stretch, which makes the move to Djurgården feel like both a reset and a chance at a bigger offensive workload.

For the Wolves, replacing that kind of touch is not a simple matter of sliding the next winger into place. Gunler was part of the young, fast group that helped Chicago reach the Calder Cup Finals, and his production carried into the postseason with seven points across 21 playoff games. Losing that profile abroad is exactly the kind of offseason turnover that often follows a deep AHL run: the better the season, the more visible the players become to clubs offering bigger roles and cleaner pathways.

Välimäki’s move is just as significant for a Chicago team that benefited from his puck-moving ability down the stretch. The defenseman produced 20 points in 24 regular-season games for the Wolves and added six points in 11 playoff games. The AHL lists him as the Calgary Flames’ first-round pick, 16th overall in 2017, and he arrived in Chicago after Carolina acquired him from Utah on Feb. 24, 2026 and assigned him to the Wolves. Before that, he had logged 59 career AHL games with Tucson and Stockton.

Brynäs said Välimäki signed a two-year contract through the 2027/28 season and described him as a big, skilled defenseman with top-SHL-player potential. Together, the two moves underline how quickly a successful Wolves roster can be mined for European opportunities after a season that ended one win short of the Calder Cup.