Sheffield Steelers not ruling out a return for Daine Todd

But how would that back line look if coach Aaron Fox was to add Daine Todd to it?

The Canadian suffered a broken tibia on February 27 playing against Coventry Blaze and returned home to convalesce.

It was a blow Sheffield didn't really recover from; they lost 11 of their final 18 matches.

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Todd was regarded as arguably the best offensive defenceman in the EIHL and, the presiding opinion seemed to be that if he recovered completely from the leg break he would be snapped up by a bigger-paying league in Europe.

Well, in the last four and a half months Todd has rehabilitated well and is now ready to make an impact on the ice again.

And Sheffield have not ruled themselves out of securing his services once again.

"Todd's injury is fixed," said coach Fox.

"He is fully training and we have been in touch in the last little bit here.

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"He has got some opportunities abroad right now that he is kicking the tyres on, we have stayed in touch and he has a decision to make.

"I still have another defenceman to sign here and if Daine is ready to come back I'd 100 percent right away bring him back.

"He is just that good of a player. You are never going to turn down quality like that.

"I am a firm believer that you need mobile defencemen who can play a two-way game.

"You don't see teams that have big, heavy, hulking defencemen playing a physical game any more because if they are that good they are probably not in our league!"

So any thoughts that 5ft 9ins quarter back Nevalainen might have been brought in as a replacement for Todd might well be premature.

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Comparing the two, Fox said: "Daine's skating and elusiveness are hard to mimic but Niklaus is a very good two-way player.

"He was outstanding in Liiga (Finnish league) in his first two years there, he had a top four role, was second on his team for 'D' scoring, and third on the next year."

His time in Norway with Frisk Asker saw Nevalainen run up some good numbers: 37 points from 42 games, including six goals.

"He is a good player skates well and will be very good on retrievals and getting pucks up the ice quickly to our forwards, I feel like he is going to be a very good player for us."

Todd is a right-hander, as is Sam Jones and Davey Phillips, while as Nevalainen and Schulze are lefties. Utility man Evan Mosey, who is always available to play from the back end, is a right shot.