Jacob Josefson

Jacob Josefson
Josefson in September 2014.
Born March 2, 1991
Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams 		New Jersey Devils
Djurgårdens IF
NHL Draft 20th overall, 2009
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 2007–present

Jacob Peter Josefson (born March 2, 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre, currently with the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League (NHL). After Josefson began playing hockey at the age of five, he was acquired by Djurgården's youth organization at the age of ten, where he also began playing junior hockey in 2005. Josefson made his Elitserien debut on February 28, 2008, against Timrå IK, and became a regular member of Djurgården's senior team. His achievements in the Swedish Elitserien drew attention from NHL and he was selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils, 20th overall. Josefson played with Djurgården for an additional season, before signing on for the Devils in May 2010.

Josefson has represented Sweden at four International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) sanctioned junior events, winning the silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He also participated in the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, but only played three of Sweden's six games, and the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.

Early life

Josefson was born on March 2, 1991, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Annika and Peter Josefson.[1] He is the youngest of three brothers.[2][3] At the age of two, Josefson began skating and joined IK Göta at the age of five. His older brothers had played for the same club.[3] He played with Hammarby IF for a year[4] before he was acquired by Djurgårdens IF at the age of ten,[1] playing for the 1991 team.[5][6] He also played football until the age of 13, before deciding to focus entirely on hockey.[2] Josefson attended high school at Vittra Gymnasium in Sweden while playing for Djurgården.[4]

Playing career

Djurgårdens IF

Josefson in 2009.

Josefson started to play junior hockey in 2005 for Djurgården's under-18 team.[7] During the 2006–07 season, he helped Djurgården's under-16 team to win the Swedish championship.[8][9] The 2007–08 season began with the national junior hockey tournament TV-pucken. Josefson's team Stockholm/Vit reached the final which ended with a 2–1 defeat to Småland.[10] He made his Elitserien debut on February 28, 2008, against Timrå IK.[1][11] This proved to be the only appearance Josefson would make in the Elitserien during the 2007–08 season. Josefson played for the J20-team during most of the season scoring 14 goals and 31 points. His team reached the playoffs, but were defeated by Brynäs IF in the semi-finals.[12] After the loss, he joined the under-18 team during the playoffs where he helped the team defeat Färjestads BK to capture the Swedish championship.[13]

He signed a two-year contract with Djurgården in May 2008.[14] The club's initial plan for Josefson was to move him up to the senior team when regular players were out of the lineup with illness or injuries, while his usual team would be the J20-team.[14] He scored his first goal in Elitserien on September 23 in his third game, a 4–1 win against Brynäs IF.[15][16] Ultimately, Josefson played almost every game of the regular season, and usually played along with Carl Gustafsson and Henrik Eriksson on the 4th line.[1][17] At the end of the season, Josefson had scored 5 goals and 16 points, a record for players 18 or younger playing with the senior team.[18] Josefson was ranked third in the midterm rankings among European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.[3] He was selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils, 20th overall.[19] Josefson was also drafted in the third round, 61st overall, in the 2009 KHL Junior Draft by SKA Saint Petersburg.[20] He participated at the Devils rookie camp in July 2009.[21] He has been compared with centres Nicklas Bäckström and John Madden.[17][22]

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Djurgården participated in the Nordic Trophy pre-season tournament. In the second game, Josefson scored a hat trick and added two assists against the Malmö Redhawks.[23] At the end of the group stage, Josefson was the scoring leader with five goals and seven points.[24] He scored his first points for the regular season, three assists, in the Elitserien premiere away against HV71.[25] Djurgården lost the game 7–6, but on October 20, Josefson would get his revenge when he scored the game-winning goal in the 3–2 victory over HV71 20. This was also was his first goal of the regular season.[26] Josefson missed six Elitserien games due to the World Junior Hockey Championship, but was back in the roster against Timrå IK on January 9.[27] He recorded an assist against Rögle BK on January 30, which was his 17th point of the season, putting him ahead of last season's total.[28] At the end of the regular season, Josefson had scored 8 goals and 20 points in 43 games. The 2009–10 playoffs were Josefson's first Elitserien playoffs, and he played almost every game missing the first two semifinal games against Linköpings HC due to illness.[29][30] Djurgården lost the finals 4–2 to HV71. Josefson re-signed with Djurgården for another year on April 27.[31] Despite this and an oral guarantee the club received from Josefson's agent Peter Wallén that Josefson would stay,[32] Josefson signed with the New Jersey Devils on May 14, 2010.[33]

New Jersey Devils

Josefson participated in the pre-season camp with the Devils in September,[34] but was assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany Devils after the camp.[35] Josefson was called up to the Devils on October 14, 2010, and made his NHL debut the next day, in a 3–2 victory against Colorado Avalanche at the Prudential Center.[36][37] Josefson was slashed on his left hand and later fell on the same hand during the game against San Jose Sharks on October 27,[38] this caused a ligament in his thumb to tear, and forced him to undergo surgery.[39] At last, Josefson returned from his injury on January 7, 2011, when the Albany Devils played against the Charlotte Checkers.[40] Josefson scored his first NHL goal against Al Montoya of the New York Islanders on March 12, 2011.[41] The Devils failed to reach the playoffs and Josefson ended up with three goals and ten points in 28 regular season games.

In the fifth game of the 2011–12 season, Josefson broke his right clavicle after crashing shoulder first into the boards.[42] He underwent surgery the following day on October 22, 2011, and was expected to be sidelined for three or four months.[43] On April 3, 2012 in a game against the Islanders, Josefson bumped awkwardly into Jay Pandolfo resulting in a broken left wrist. He returned to the lineup on May 21, 2012 in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference Finals against Rangers[44] and played a total of six games in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring one point.

International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Sweden
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Silver 2009 Ottawa
Bronze 2010 Saskatoon
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
Bronze 2008 Břeclav

Josefson played in his first IIHF sanctioned tournament when he was part of Sweden's team at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships. He managed to score a hat-trick in the first game against Belarus.[45] He left the team in the morning before the fourth game due to an accident in which his father and uncle had been exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning.[46] He made his second appearance at the U18 Championship the following year, at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships, where he also took the role as alternate captain.[47] He managed to score three goals and seven points in six games. Josefson was a part of Sweden's national junior team at the 2009 World Junior Championships. He played in all of Sweden's six games but did not score any points.[19] A few months later he yet again played for Sweden in the U18 Championship but could not help his team go further than fifth place in the tournament.[48]

Josefson participated in the World Junior Championship for the second time when he was named for Team Sweden by head coach Pär Mårts for the 2010 World Junior Championships, along with fellow Djurgården team-mates Daniel Brodin and Marcus Krüger.[49] He scored his first goal of the tournament and the first goal of the game against Austria in the preliminary rounds.[50] He scored two additional goals in Sweden's 7–1 victory over Finland in the last game of the preliminary rounds.[51] Josefson, who also had three assists in the tournament, had six points in total.[52]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2007–08 Djurgårdens IF J20 3414173122 72358
2007–08 Djurgårdens IF SEL 10000 —————
2008–09 Djurgårdens IF J20 30116 61344
2008–09 Djurgårdens IF SEL 505111614 —————
2009–10 Djurgårdens IF SEL 438122020 143254
2010–11 Albany Devils AHL 1839124 —————
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL 2837106 —————
2011–12 New Jersey Devils NHL 412796 60110
2011–12 Albany Devils AHL 42132 —————
2012–13 Albany Devils AHL 3810152529 —————
2012–13 New Jersey Devils NHL 221232 —————
2013–14 New Jersey Devils NHL 271234 —————
2014–15 New Jersey Devils NHL 62651124 —————
SHL totals 9413233634 143254
NHL totals 18013233642 60110

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Sweden Jr. WJC U18 4th 34150
2009 Sweden Jr. WJC U18 5th 63472
2009 Sweden Jr. WJC 2nd 60002
2010 Sweden Jr. WJC 3rd 63364
Junior totals 211081826

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Malin Fransson (September 18, 2008). "Josefson het i tonårskedja" [Josefson hot in teenager line]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rasid Becirovic (September 16, 2009). "SvenskaFans träffar Jacob Josefson: "Att det blev Devils är jag riktigt glad över!"" [SvenskaFans meets Jacob Josefson: "I am really glad that it was the Devils!"]. svenskafans.com (in Swedish). Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Draft Prospect Card – 2009". nhl.com. NHL. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brandt, Per (February 4, 2008). "Plantskolan som bär frukt" [Plant nursery that bears fruit]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Djurgården Hockey Team 91 – Spelartrupp 2002/2003" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on October 9, 2002. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Hästenwännernas Cup i Norrköping – 19/10-2002" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on February 5, 2003. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  7. ↑ Hellefors, Patrick (December 16, 2005). "J18: Seger mot AIK" [J18: Victory against AIK]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  8. ↑ Dammbro, Jerker (March 25, 2007). "Djurgården U16-lag vann SM-guld!" [Djurgården U16-team won the Swedish championship!]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  9. ↑ Hellefors, Patrick (March 25, 2007). "SM-guld till Djurgårdens 91:or!" [Swedish championship for Djurgården's 91's]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Tv-pucken finals 1959–2011". swehockey.se. Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  11. ↑ Uhlin, Daniel (February 28, 2008). "Djurgården kryssar vidare" [Djurgården cruise on]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ Dammbro, Jerker (March 28, 2008). "Säsongen över för J20-laget" [The season is over for the J20-team]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Färjestads BK – Djurgårdens IF". swehockey.se. Swedish Ice Hockey Association. March 30, 2008. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Dammbro, Jerker (May 8, 2008). "Figren och Josefson klara för DIF" [Figren and Josefson signed for DIF]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  15. ↑ Pakarinen, Risto (September 28, 2009). "Young guns making noise". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  16. ↑ Alexanderson, Thomas (September 23, 2008). "Jacob gjorde drömmålet" [Jacob scored the dream goal]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Shawn P. Roarke (November 28, 2008). "Josefson's Draft stock continues to rise". nhl.com. NHL. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  18. ↑ Dammbro, Jerker (May 7, 2009). "Lång säsong med fram- och motgång" [Long season with success and setbacks]. difhockey.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Hockey. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chere, Rich (June 26, 2009). "New Jersey Devils trade up to pick Swedish center Jacob Josefson 20th in NHL entry draft". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  20. ↑ Persson, Stefan (June 1, 2009). "Pääjärvi-Svensson förste svensk i KHL-draften" [Pääjärvi-Svensson first Swede in the KHL draft]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  21. ↑ Gelb, Matt (July 15, 2009). "Swedish prospects Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson spending plenty of time together at NJ Devils rookie camp". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  22. ↑ Tom Canavan (June 26, 2009). "Devils move up in draft, select C Jacob Josefson". USA Today. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Djurgården krossade Malmö" [Djurgården crushed Malmö]. difhockey.se. Djurgårdens IF Hockey. August 14, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Stats 2009". nordictrophy.com. Nordic Trophy. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
  25. ↑ "HV71 – Djurgårdens IF 7–6". difhockey.se. Djurgårdens IF Hockey. September 24, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  26. ↑ "HV-slarv bäddade för Dif-seger" [HV-carelessness paved the way for Dif victory]. svt.se (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Laguppställningen mot Timrå" [Lineup against Timrå]. difhockey.se. Djurgårdens IF Hockey. January 9, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Djurgårdens IF – Rögle BK". swehockey.se. Swedish Ice Hockey Association. January 30, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  29. ↑ Weichselbraun, Johan (April 1, 2010). "Nedsläpp: Josefson borta första semin" [Face-off: Josefson misses first semifinal]. hockeyligan.se (in Swedish). Svenska Hockeyligan AB. Archived from the original on September 8, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  30. ↑ Bodin, Uffe (April 5, 2010). "Det är sjukt frustrerande" [It is really frustrating]. hockeysverige.se (in Swedish). Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  31. ↑ "Djurgårdenspelare förlänger kontrakt" [Djurgården players extend contracts]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). April 27, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  32. ↑ Karlsson, Gustav. "DIF:s klubbdirektör besviken på agenten: "Vi fick en muntlig garanti"" [DIF's general manager disappointed at the agent: "We got an oral guarantee"]. hockeykanalen.se (in Swedish). TV4 Group. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  33. ↑ "Devils sign top picks Tedenby, Josefson". devils.nhl.com. New Jersey Devils. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  34. ↑ Chere, Rich (September 20, 2010). "Jacob Josefson scores goal against Martin Brodeur in Devils' scrimmage". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  35. ↑ Chere, Rich (October 5, 2010). "Devils assign Corrente, Josefson, Tedenby, McKenna to Albany (AHL)". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  36. ↑ Ek, Mattias (October 14, 2010). "Jacob Josefson får chansen i NHL" [Jacob Josefson gets the chance in the NHL]. hockey.expressen.se (in Swedish) (Expressen). Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  37. ↑ "Anderson makes 41 saves, Avs beat Devils 3–2". Sports Illustrated. AP. October 15, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  38. ↑ Chere, Rich (October 30, 2010). "Devils send Jacob Josefson home with hand injury; Jason Arnott's ankle OK". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  39. ↑ Chere, Rich (January 4, 2011). "Brian Rolston: 'I'm glad to be back with the Devils'". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  40. ↑ Bodin, Uffe (January 8, 2011). "Jacob Josefson producerade i comebacken" [Jacob Josefson produced in the comeback]. hockeysverige.se (in Swedish). Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  41. ↑ Chere, Rich (March 12, 2011). "Devils find a dynamic new line as Jacob Josefson gets first NHL goal". nj.com (The Star-Ledger). Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  42. ↑ Chere, Rich (October 21, 2011). "Loss of Jacob Josefson with broken clavicle puts Devils in a bind". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  43. ↑ Chere, Rich (October 22, 2011). "Devils' Jacob Josefson out 3–4 months after surgery to repair broken clavicle". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  44. ↑ "Lyckad comeback för Josefson" [Successful comeback for Josefson]. Svenska Dagbladet. May 22, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  45. ↑ "GAME SUMMARY" (PDF). stats.iihf.com. IIHF. April 13, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  46. ↑ Nilsson, Petter (September 26, 2009). "Förväntningarna är höga på Djurgårdstalangen" [Expectations are high on the Djurgården talent]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  47. ↑ "SWEDEN TEAM 18 PRE CAMP WITH EXHIBITION GAMES AND 2009 IIHF U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, USA DURING APRIL 1–20 2009". swehockey.se. Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  48. ↑ Aykroyd, Lucas (April 19, 2009). "Swedes fifth, Slovaks survive". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  49. ↑ "PRELIMINARY TEAM SWEDEN U20 ROSTER". swehockey.se. Swedish Ice Hockey Association. November 30, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  50. ↑ "WJHC: Larsson, Rodin score two each as Sweden beats Austria". tsn.ca. The Sports Network. December 27, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  51. ↑ "WJHC: Sweden beats Finland to advance to semifinals". tsn.ca. The Sports Network. December 31, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  52. ↑ "Player statistics by team – Sweden" (PDF). stats.iihf.com. IIHF. January 6, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011.

External links

Preceded by
Mattias Tedenby		 New Jersey Devils first round draft pick
2009 		Succeeded by
Adam Larsson