Erik Gustafsson

Erik Gustafsson (born on December 15, 1988 in Sundsvall) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman who plays with the Luleå HF of the SHL.

Club career
Gustafsson played junior hockey with the Timrå IK organisation. In 2007 moved Gustafsson to North America to spend 3 season with the Northern Michigan Univ. of the NCAA. In the 2007-08 season was Gustafsson selected into the NCAA (CCHA) All-Rookie Team. In the 2008-09 season, he was selected into the NCAA (CCHA) First All-Star Team and into the NCAA (West) Second All-American Team as he was named the NCAA (CCHA) Best Offensive Defenceman while he had most assists by defenceman and most points by defenceman in the NCAA (CCHA). In the 2009-10 season, he was again nominated in the NCAA (CCHA) First All-Star Team and into the NCAA (West) Second All-American Team as he was again named the NCAA (CCHA) Best Offensive Defenceman.

He signed a three-year entry level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers organisation on March 31, 2010. After 39 games played with the Northern Michigan Univ. in the 2009-10, he finished the season playing 5 games with the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL.

During the 2010-11 season played Gustafsson 3 games with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and 72 games with the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. He had most assists by rookie in the AHL (44) and was selected into the AHL All-Rookie Team and played at the 2011 AHL All-Star Game. In the next season, he played 30 regular season games and 7 play-off games with the Flyers and 28 games with the Phantoms.

During the 2012-13 season, Gustafsson played 27 games with the Flyers and 39 games with the Phantoms. The next season played Gustafsson only with the Flyers in the NHL.

In 2014, Gustafsson returned to Europe and signed with the Avangard Omsk of the KHL. Gustafsson also played at the 2015 KHL All-Star Game.

Gustafsson then played with the Kloten Flyers of the NLA during the 2015-16 season. In 2016, Gustafsson moved back to the Avangard Omsk of the KHL. He was named the KHL Defenceman of the Week on November 20, 2016. Gustafsson also began the 2017-18 season with the Avangard Omsk of the KHL but after 23 games played with the Avangard he moved to finish the season with the Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL. He played there 25 regular season games and 2 play-off games.

Since 2018, Gustafsson is playing with the Luleå HF of the SHL. In the 2018-19 season, he won the Salming Trophy for the SHL's best defenceman. In the 2019-20 season, he had the SHL's best plus/minus (+27) and the highest average time on ice (24:31).

International career
Gustafsson played with the Swedish National Team at the 2013, 2014 and 2016 World Championship s (winning gold in 2013 and bronze in 2014) and at the 2018 Olympics.