, there are 23 Norwegian

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 ...

players that have been selected in 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) Entry Draft. No Norwegian player has ever been selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. The highest draft selection was

Marius Holtet Marius Holtet (born August 31, 1984) is a Norwegian former professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward. Most of his career, which lasted from 2000 to 2014, was spent with Färjestad BK in the Swedish Hockey League. Internationally Holte ...

, who was drafted in the second round, as the 42nd overall in the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

. The 2011 draft marked the first time a Norwegian

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

was selected, when

Steffen Søberg Steffen Kent Søberg (born August 6, 1993) is a Norwegian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the GET-ligaen for Vålerenga Ishockey, Vålerenga. He was selected by Washington Capitals in the 4th round (117th overall) of the 20 ...

was picked in the third round by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. Later in the same draft, 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 ...

chose fellow goaltender Lars Volden from the Finnish team

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

. The most notable Norwegian draftee is 2002 NHL All-Star player Espen "Shampo" Knutsen, who played 207 regular season games in the NHL for the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title *Th ...

and most notably for

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

Drafted players

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{NHL drafts

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

NHL Entry Draft