Lars Martin Jonsson (born January 2, 1982) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former 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 h ...

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

. He played most of his career in Sweden for

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous seaso ...

HV71 HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League ...

, and

Brynäs IF Brynäs IF is a Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden. The club has played in the top-tier league since 1960, longer than any other team. History B ...

. He spent two years in North America playing for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

organization, appearing in eight

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) games.

Playing career

Jonsson began playing for

of Elitserien in 1999. Shortly after the season ended, he was drafted in the first round of the

2000 NHL Entry Draft The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was the 38th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24 and 25, 2000 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. T ...

by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. Although the Bruins continually showed interest in him, attempting to sign him several times, they ran into issues with the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, which now states that European prospects will no longer remain indefinite property of the teams that draft them. As a result, the Bruins chose not to sign him and decided to instead receive the 37th overall pick in the 2006 Draft as compensation. The Bruins selected Yuri Alexandrov, a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n defenseman who would play 66 games with the Providence Bruins during the 2010-11 AHL season before returning to Russia in 2011. On the first day of

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

, Jonsson signed a one-year contract with the

. He alternated between the Flyers and their AHL affiliate, the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule ...

. Although an ankle sprain caused him to miss the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he started with the Flyers, mainly on the powerplay, but he was sent down to play for the Phantoms after two games to adjust to North American hockey. He was called back up to the Flyers on November 21, 2006. He was later reassigned to the Phantoms on September 27, 2007. Having spent two seasons in North America, Jonsson returned to the Swedish Elitserien by signing a two-year contract with

on May 15, 2008. On August 15, 2013, Jonsson officially announced his retirement from hockey.

Awards

* Named Best Defenseman in

TV-pucken TV-pucken ( en, the TV puck) is a Swedish national ice hockey tournament for district teams of boys under 15 years of age. Since 2019, girls also compete in TV-pucken with their own tournament. It was created on the initiative of Swedish ice hockey ...

in 1998. * Bronze medal at the

IIHF World U18 Championship The IIHF U18 World Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-18 ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating ...

in 2000. * Promotion to Elitserien with

in 2002.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Inside Hockey - Turning Promise into Performance - 10/08/06
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Lars 1982 births Living people Almtuna IS players Boston Bruins draft picks Brynäs IF players HV71 players IF Björklöven players IFK Arboga IK players Leksands IF players National Hockey League first-round draft picks People from Borlänge Municipality Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Swedish ice hockey defencemen Timrå IK players Sportspeople from Dalarna County