Skellefteå AIK were founded in 1921 but only started competing in the local league, Skellefteserien, in 1943. Twelve years later they qualified for Sweden's top tier in ice hockey where they remained for a substantial period.

In 1975, the Swedish Elite League was renamed Elitserien and the club became champions three years later. In the 90's the club played in the second tier, Allsvenskan, but made it back to the Elitserien in 2006/07 where they have played since.

Despite only winning the Swedish championship three times in their history (1978, 2013, 2014), they have established themselves as a strong contender for the national title each season by reaching the finals on seven occasions between 2010 and 2018.

Semi-Finalists of the inaugural 2014/15 Champions Hockey League season, Skellefteå's European record hasn’t followed their domestic success of recent years, as they haven't made it past the Quarter-Finals since. 

Though they have qualified for the Playoffs each season, they've had trouble making it to the later stages of the competition. In 2015/16 they fell to HC Davos in the Quarter-Finals and in 2018/19 it was HC Pilsen who stopped them in a shootout in the same round.

In 2019/20 they won their group but fell to fellow Swedish club Djurgården Stockholm in the Round of 16, in 2021/22 they were eliminated in the same round by Czech Extraliga side Sparta Prague.

Last season the club narrowly missed out on a place in the Semi-Finals to domestic rivals Frölunda Gothenburg.