Esa Lindell (born 23 May 1994) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was selected by the Stars in the third round, 74th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Lindell made his

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

debut playing with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its h ...

during the 2012–13 season. On 7 May 2014, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

, the organization that had drafted him in the third round, 74th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Lindell was reassigned to the Liiga for the 2014–15 season, joining

Ässät Ässät or Ässä may refer to: * HC Ässät Pori Oy, Finnish sports club ** Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (women's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (men's football) ** PATA (esports) *, Finnish band from Oulu *S Group, Finnish Con ...

. He established a career-high year, registering 14 goals and 35 points in 57 games with the club, which led all Liiga defencemen in scoring, before on 16 March 2015 he was assigned by Dallas to the organization's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the ...

. On 18 January 2016, Lindell received his first NHL call-up. He made his debut the following day on 19 January in Dallas' game against the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. On 25 November, in his 17th career NHL game, Lindell scored his first NHL goal, coming in a 2–1 win against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

. In June 2017, Lindell signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension with Dallas worth an annual salary cap hit of $2.2 million. On 16 May 2019, Lindell signed a six-year, $34.8 million contract extension with the Stars, carrying an annual cap hit of $5.8 million. In February 2020, Lindell was made an

along with teammate

Blake Comeau Blake Comeau (born February 18, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently an unrestricted free agent of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, by the New York Islanders at t ...

. Lindell and

Tyler Seguin Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

served as alternate captains during home games, while Comeau and

John Klingberg John Andersson Klingberg (born 14 August 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 131st overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. He is the you ...

served as alternate captains during road games.

Personal life

Lindell joined the ownership group of Jokerit Helsinki in 2023, following the club's departure from the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) in 2022 and the subsequent restructuring of its operating company. The group includes Jokerit ry and a number of players with ties to the team, including

Ossi Väänänen Ossi Reijo Juhani Väänänen (born August 18, 1980) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was the captain of Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), with whom he has previously won two silver medals as runner-up for ...

and

Teuvo Teräväinen Teuvo Henri Matias Teräväinen (born 11 September 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Turbo", he was selected in the first round, 18th ...

, among others.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindell, Esa 1994 births Living people Ässät players Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Helsinki Jokerit players Kiekko-Vantaa players Texas Stars players