Frans Nielsen

Frans Nielsen (b. April 24th 1984 in Herning, Denmark) is a professional centre who plays in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders.

Drafted to the National Hockey League by the New York Islanders in the third round (87th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, the Herning IK alumni was an Elitserien regular for Malmö IF and Timrå IK before he travelled across the Atlantic to join the Sound Tigers in 2006. There, Nielsen played extremely well for the Sound Tigers, enough to earn a call up with the Islanders on January 5th 2007.

He made his NHL debuts on January 6th 2007, becoming the first ever Danish citizen to play in the National Hockey League. While Poul Popiel skated in the NHL in the late 1960's and 1970's, he had become an American citizen before his debuts, meaning the honour of being the first Dane citizen to play in the league came to Nielsen.

Nielsen is one of the best Danish player and is a regular member of the Danish National Team, playing 29 games for the junior squad and 32 for the senior one.