Cardiff sign forward Mieho as three more Devils return
Panu Mieho spent two years playing as an import in the Swedish Hockey League
- Published
Cardiff Devils have added Finnish forward Panu Mieho to their roster for the 2026-27 Elite League (EIHL) campaign.
The 31-year-old has played the past two seasons with hometown club IFK Helsinki, where he started his career as a junior.
He also played in Finland with Ilves and in the Swedish league with Timra IK.
From their annual pre-season 'summit' in Calgary, Cardiff's owners also confirmed 27-year-old forward Nolan Yaremko is returning for Devils' 40th season, along with Canadian defencemen Brandon Estes and Tyson Helgesen.
Head coach Paul Thompson now has two netminders and seven defencemen on his roster, with several forwards still to be named.
The new season will begin at home to Guildford Flames in the Challenge Cup on Saturday, 12 September, before travelling to Coventry Blaze the following day.
The full fixture list for the new season will be released later this week.
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Cardiff's refreshed squad now includes four new signings, along with 15 members of last season's play-off winning side.
Among those returning are Great Britain forward Ben Davies, who will be playing his 13th season with his hometown club.
In February, 31-year-old Davies became only the fifth player to reach 1,000 EIHL games.
Netminder Ben Bowns returns for an 11th campaign, as does Devils captain Joey Martin. Others to re-sign include Mark Richardson, Evan Mosey, Christian Stoever and Kohen Olischefski.
Bayley Harewood has been given his first full-time deal after playing the last five seasons on two-way contracts, mostly with Bristol Pitbulls.
Canadian forward Thomas Caron, 25, has made the switch to south Wales from Finnish Liiga side HPK.
The Devils have also recruited Jake Sacratini - son of club legend Vezio Sacratini - and defenceman Nick Welsh from Manchester Storm.
Cardiff Devils' play-off triumph saw Paul Thompson become the first coach to win Elite League trophies with three different clubs
Cardiff have also recruited Jeff Battah as the club's new goaltending and video coach, on the recommendation of the man he replaces, Euan King, who has left to join the Ice Hockey UK Foundation.
Battah has a wide-ranging coaching background across professional, major junior, university, and international hockey and most recently worked with Rapaces de Gap in France's Ligue Magnus.
The 46-year-old Canadian joins Thompson's staff as Devils target a first regular season league title since 2018.
Cardiff Devils 2026-27 - confirmed so far
Netminders
Ben Bowns (GB)
Christian Stoever (USA)
Defencemen
Brandon Estes (USA)
Gleason Fournier (Canada)
Tyson Helgesen (Canada)
Evan Mosey (GB)
Jimmy Oligny (Canada)
Mark Richardson (GB)
Nick Welsh (Canada)
Forwards
Ryan Barrow (Canada)
Thomas Caron (Canada)
Ben Davies (Great Britain)
Sam Duggan (GB)
Bayley Harewood (GB)
Joey Martin (Canada)
Panu Mieho (Finland)
Kohen Olischefski (Canada)
Jake Sacratini (GB)
Nolan Yaremko (Canada)
How many players are there on an EIHL roster?
The overall number of players a team can use in one season is 25, excluding injured reserve replacements and 'two-way players'.
Clubs can register as many 'two-way players' as they wish but they must be homegrown, under the age of 25 and contracted primarily to an EIH (English Ice Hockey) or SIH (Scottish Ice Hockey)-based team competing in a league lower than the EIHL.
A gameday roster can have a maximum of 20 players - 18 skaters and 2 goalies - with no more than 15 non-homegrown players.
All teams must have at least one British goaltender registered to their overall roster.
Cardiff Devils 2026-27 pre-season fixtures
Confirmed dates so far
Saturday, 15 August
Cardiff Devils v Odense Bulldogs (19:00 BST)
Sunday, 16 August
Cardiff Devils v Odense Bulldogs (17:00 BST)
Saturday, 22 August
Cardiff Devils v Angers (19:00 BST)
Saturday, 29 August
Cardiff Devils v Sheffield (19:00 BST)
Sunday, 6 September
Cardiff Devils v Nottingham (17:00 BST)
Cardiff Devils 2025-26 roster
Netminders
Ben Bowns (Great Britain)
Christian Stoever (USA)
Defencemen
Brandon Estes (USA)
Gleason Fournier (Canada)
Tyson Helgesen (Canada)
Steven MacLean (Canada)
Evan Mosey (USA)
Jimmy Oligny (Canada)
Mark Richardson (Great Britain)
Forwards
Ryan Barrow (Canada)
Riley Brandt (Canada)
Connor Caponi (USA)
Ben Davies (Great Britain)
Sam Duggan (Great Britain)
Brett Ferguson (Canada)
Bayley Harewood (Great Britain)
Kristoff Kontos (Canada)
Cedric Lacroix (Canada)
Josh MacDonald (Canada)
Joey Martin (Canada)
Kohen Olischefski (Canada)
Brett Perlini (Great Britain)
Cole Sanford (Canada)
Nolan Yaremko (Canada)
