Mattias Jonas Bäckman (born October 3, 1992) 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 ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

. Bäckman was drafted 145th overall by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

in the

2011 NHL Entry Draft The 2011 NHL entry draft was the 49th entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the ...

Playing career

Swedish Hockey League

During the 2008–09 season, Bäckman debuted in Sweden’s SuperElit junior league with the Linköpings' J20 club, appearing in a pair of games without registering a point. During the 2009–10 season, Bäckman spent the majority of the season with Linköpings J20, recording four goals and assists in 33 games in the regular season before adding one goal in six games in the playoffs. Bäckman also played in 5 contests with the big club in the Elitserien without registering a point. During the 2010–11 season, Bäckman appeared in six Elitserien games with Linköpings and two games on loan to First Division team Mjolby. Bäckman scored one goal and two assists for Mjolby. Bäckman recorded two goals and 18 assists in 27 games with Linkopings U20 team and added 2 assists in three playoff games. During the 2011–12 season, Bäckman skated in 42 games for Linköpings as a 19-year-old in his first professional season in Sweden's Elitserien. Bäckman recorded one goal and seven assists. Backman skated with Linkopings U20 team in six regular season games and was plus-two with one goal and one assist. Bäckman was with the U20 team during the run to the SuperElit finals after Linkopings' tenth-place men's team did not make the playoffs and was the team's second-leading scorer with two goals and six assists in six games. During the 2012–13 season, Bäckman appeared in 52 games in his second season with Linköpings, where he recorded two goals and 24 assists. Linköpings finished fifth in the Elitserien and lost to league champion Skelleftea in the playoff semifinals. Backman recorded two goals and assists in 10 playoff games. Bäckman played five games for Sweden in the

European Trophy European Trophy (previously named ''Nordic Trophy'' between 2006 and 2009) was an annually held ice hockey tournament, traditionally composed of teams from the higher-level ice hockey leagues in countries across Europe. With 32 participating team ...

tournament with no points nor penalty minutes. During the 2013–14 season, Bäckman appeared in a career-high 54 games, where he recorded six goals and 15 assists during his third and final SEL season. During the playoffs, Bäckman helped Linköpings reach the semifinals, recording seven assists in 13 games.

North America

On May 21, 2013, Bäckman signed a three year entry-level contract with the

. After Linköpings were eliminated from the playoffs, Bäckman was assigned to the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

, and made his

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) debut on April 18, 2014, in a game against the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. During the

2014 Calder Cup playoffs The 2014 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 23, 2014, with the same playoff format that was introduced in 2012. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, will play best-of-five series in the conf ...

, Bäckman recorded one goal and five assists in 10 playoff games. Bäckman began the 2014–15 season with the Griffins. In 18 games he recorded four assists. On December 26, 2014, the Griffins reassigned Bäckman to

Linköpings HC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a Swedish swim team *Linköpings FC, an association football club *Linköpings FF, premier men's football team *Linköpings HC, Linköpings Hockey Club See also< ...

. On March 1, 2015, the Detroit Red Wings traded Bäckman and

Mattias Janmark-Nylén Mattias Janmark Nylén (born 8 December 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Vegas Golden ...

to the

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

in exchange for

Erik Cole Erik Cole (born November 6, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger. Originally drafted by the Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Cole played 15 seasons in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Mont ...

. In the 2016–17 season, in his final year under contract with the Stars and stationed in the AHL with Texas, Bäckman appeared in 41 games with 11 points before he was loaned by the Stars to the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

in exchange for Darren Dietz on March 8, 2017. He appeared in 5 games with the Bears before he was excluded from the post-season roster and left at the conclusion of the regular season. As expected he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Stars at the conclusion of the season, releasing Bäckman to free agency.

Return to Europe

On June 30, 2017, Bäckman signed a one-year contract with

EHC Kloten EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL). After completing the 2017–18 season with Kloten, Bäckman returned to Sweden agreeing to terms with Linköpings on a multi-year contract on April 27, 2018. In the midst of the 2021–22 season, his fourth successive season blighted through injury with Linköping, Bäckman announced he was taking a hiatus from professional hockey in order to regain his health on 7 December 2021.

International play

Bäckman represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge. Bäckman recorded one assist and four penalty minutes for fifth-place Sweden at the WJAC. Bäckman later represented Sweden at the

2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship (commonly known as the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It began on Decem ...

, where he won a gold medal. In six games at the WJC, Bäckman recorded three assists.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backman, Mattias 1992 births Living people Detroit Red Wings draft picks Grand Rapids Griffins players Hershey Bears players EHC Kloten players Linköping HC players Ice hockey people from Linköping Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Texas Stars players