Markus Näslund

Markus Näslund (b. July 30th 1973 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a professional left winger who plays in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers.

Näslund was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins from MoDo Hockey of the Elitserien 16th overall of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. After a strong showing in Sweden in 1991-92 and 1992-93, Näslund makes his NHL debuts in 1993-94 with the Penguins, collecting a disappointing 11 points in 71 games. The next season, he only tallied four points in 14 games. The Swede steadily improved in 1995-96, earning 52 points in 66 matches with the Pens before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Alek Stojanov. Näslund's first two seasons in Vancouver were rather uneventful, him even being a healthy scratch in 1997-98 by head coach Mike Keenan, who openly showed he was not fond of the player. Markus requested a trade, which he never was given.

Things were however to drastically change the following season. To many's surprise, Näslund led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 66 points while the team was rebuilding. He truly reached stardom in 2001-01, as he netted 41 goals and added 34 assists for 75 points - his breakout season was shortened by an injury late in the season. He came back even stronger the following season, which marked his linemate Todd Bertuzzi's emergence. Brendan Morrison joined them on the Canucks' first line (dubbed the West Coast Express) and the deadly trio made the Canucks a team to reckon with. Markus established career-high stats in NHL season 2002-03 with 48 goals and 104 points, finishing second overall in NHL scoring. That season, he won the Lester B. Pearson Award and was a runner-up for the Hart Trophy.

He took part in 5 NHL All-Stars Games (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04) and played 31 games with the senior Swedish National Team, as well as 26 with the junior one.

External Links

• Markus Näslund's career stats on eurohockey.net

This article is part of the Swedish hockey portal.