Before the season, Djurgården was a big favorite to take the step back to the SHL directly.
But the autumn season has not gone as well as the Stockholm team had hoped.
They are indeed third in the series, but up to series leader Modo is a whopping 13 points.
The former Malmö and Luleå coach Joakim Fagervall now has to pay for that.
- After several discussions, we have reached this decision.
We believe that this is a necessary change, as we have not progressed far enough in the processes of how we want to play and how we should act.
With a number of months left until we have to perform at our best, we need to give ourselves time to find our way, comments Djurgården's sporting director KG Stoppel in a statement on Djurgården's website.
Made a splash in Djurgården
The new coach will be Johan Garpenlöv, who left his job as Swedish national team captain after the spring ice hockey World Cup.
As a player, Garpenlöv broke through in Djurgården, and also ended his career there in the 2000-01 season, after ten seasons in the NHL.
He has also been an assistant coach at the club for three seasons, 2002-05.
- We are getting a good leader with a strong Djurgård anchorage.
Johan knows how things work in the association.
He has also worked with Marcus Ragnarsson before and the two know each other well, which is an advantage, says Stoppel.