Hershey’s Bobby Nardella Signs Deal In Sweden

A longtime member of the Hershey Bears, defenseman Bobby Nardella is moving on.

The 27-year-old, who led the team’s blueliners with 28 regular season points last season, has agreed to a one-year deal with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League.

Best of luck to @bnardella_7! He has signed a one-year contract in Sweden with HV71.

Thanks for three great seasons in Chocolatetown! pic.twitter.com/8vtbEgln41

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) July 31, 2023

“In Bobby we get an extremely skilled offensive back but who also has an upside in the defense,” general manager Kent Norberg said according to a DeepL translation. “He impressed me greatly during his year in Djurgården and will further strengthen our back line.”

With HV71, Nardella will be teammates with Henrik Borgstrom — also a member of the 2023 Calder Cup Championship squad.

In 61 games played with the Bears last season, Nardella led all of the team’s defensemen in goals (seven) and assists (21).

Signed out of Notre Dame in 2019, Nardella spent parts of four seasons in Hershey — in addition to a 47-game stint with Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan in 2020-21.