Niklas Sundström

Niklas Sundström
Born 6 June 1975 (1975-06-06) (age 36)
Örnsköldsvik, SWE
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Modo Hockey
New York Rangers
San Jose Sharks
Montreal Canadiens
National team  Sweden
NHL Draft 8th overall, 1993
New York Rangers
Playing career 1991–present

Lars Niklas Sundström (born 6 June 1975 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a professional ice hockey player who started his professional career in Modo Hockey. He was drafted eighth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He was also on Wayne Gretzky's line. He was not known for his goal scoring ability, but for his defensive play. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 1999, and to the Montreal Canadiens in 2003. Sundström plays forward and specializes in defensive roles. When he was a junior player he formed a line in Modo with future NHL stars Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund. He wore the number 24 for the San Jose Sharks and the New York Rangers but wore the number 37 for the Montreal Canadiens. After 11 NHL seasons, he returned to play in Sweden at the start of the 2006–07 season, leading Modo to a surprise title during his first season, scoring several vital goals in the playoffs. He formed an effective partnership with Norwegian Per-Åge Skrøder, leading to Skrøder winning the top scorer rankings in 2009. Modo still missed the playoffs that year, despite Sundström having the best plus-minus rating in the entire series.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991-92 Modo Hockey SEL 8 1 3 4 0
1992–93 Modo Hockey SEL 40 7 11 18 18 3 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Modo Hockey SEL 37 7 12 19 28 11 4 3 7 2
1994–95 Modo Hockey SEL 33 8 13 21 30
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 82 9 12 21 14 11 4 3 7 4
1996-97 New York Rangers NHL 82 24 28 52 20 9 0 5 5 2
1997-98 New York Rangers NHL 70 19 28 47 24
1998-99 New York Rangers NHL 81 13 30 43 20
1999-00 San Jose Sharks NHL 79 12 25 37 22 12 0 2 2 2
2000-01 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 10 39 49 28 6 0 3 3 2
2001-02 San Jose Sharks NHL 73 9 30 39 50 12 1 6 7 6
2002-03 San Jose Sharks NHL 47 2 10 12 22
2002-03 Montreal Canadiens NHL 33 5 9 14 8
2003-04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 8 12 20 18 4 1 0 1 2
2004-05 HC Milano Italy 33 9 27 36 40
2005-06 Montreal Canadiens NHL 55 6 9 15 30 5 0 3 3 4
2006-07 Modo Hockey SEL 47 9 36 45 116 20 5 8 13 26
2007-08 Modo Hockey SEL 45 7 30 37 128 5 0 6 6 14
2008-09 Modo Hockey SEL 49 18 35 53 70
2009-10 Modo Hockey SEL 32 5 15 20 28
2010-11 Modo Hockey SEL 53 11 22 33 40
NHL totals 750 117 232 349 256 59 6 22 28 22
SEL totals 345 73 177 250 257 39 9 17 26 42

External links

Preceded by
Peter Ferraro
New York Rangers first round draft pick
1993
Succeeded by
Dan Cloutier