Viaplay has unveiled an original series on late Swedish hockey player Börje Salming, who played 16 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The untitled, six-part English-language series was announced on Tuesday (March 7) as the subscription-based streaming service launches in Canada with more than 50 “exclusive Canadian premieres” of films and series scheduled for release in 2023, including the biopic The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen (pictured).

Swedish filmmaker Amir Chamdin is the creator and director of the series, which is billed as the “first original Canadian production” for Viaplay. It is set in Toronto in the 1970s and features Vancouver-born actor Jason Priestley as Leafs talent scout Gerry McNamara. Fellow Canadian actor A.C. Peterson will portray former Leafs owner Harold Ballard – who was the subject of a recent documentary directed by Priestley – and Sweden’s Valter Skarsgård will play Salming.

The series has already gone into production, according to a news release, and is expected to premiere on Viaplay later this year. Additional details will be provided at a later date.

Viaplay is a direct-to-consumer streamer that specializes in the distribution and production of Nordic Noir, a growing TV genre of crime dramas set in and around Nordic countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and Finland. The Canadian launch was first announced in 2021.

Chamdin’s drama series Partisan, which won Best Series at Canneseries in 2020, is among the titles available on Viaplay in Canada. Other series include dramedy Love Me, Danish crime drama Trom, and historical drama The Emigrants. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is part of the film offerings.

Other upcoming series include U.S./Sweden drama Cell 8, satirical Norway series The Architect, and Second World War film Gold Run.

Viaplay is also available in the Nordic and Baltic regions, as well as Poland, the Netherlands, the U.K., and launched in the U.S. market on Feb. 22.

Vanda Rapti, Viaplay Group chief commercial officer, North America and Viaplay Select, said in a statement that Viaplay is “the global leader in original Nordic content,” which “continues to resonate with Canadian audiences and their affinity for crime dramas set in beautiful landscapes.”

Photo by Aske Alexander Foss