The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation has increased the number of imported players teams can have in their squads from five to seven this year, in a bid to lift the standard.
The Thunder made a big improvement when it moved up to fourth in 2010 and it maintained its position last year.
The imported players are Hassan Saeed and Mike Morrison from Canada, Joni Nukari, Timo Kahtava and Matti Haapakoski from Finland, Damien Torfou (France) and Matt Enright (United Kingdom).
Enright is based in Dunedin but still has to be classified as an import because he does not yet have New Zealand citizenship.
The other newcomers in the team are Luke Pickering, from the Southern Stampede, and Bradley Apps, from the Canterbury Red Devils.
Apps (16), one of the most promising younger players in the country, shifted to Dunedin to continue working with his coach, Janos Kaszala, who is now in charge of the Thunder.
Last year's national league was won by Botany Swarm, of Auckland, which beat Southern Stampede (Queenstown) in the finals.
The two teams will participate in the inaugural transtasman league this year.
The Thunder will have a warm-up game against the Stampede in Gore this weekend, and a double header against the Red Devils in Dunedin the following weekend.
The national league starts in the second week of June.
