Mattias Hans Ekholm (born 24 May 1990) is a Swedish

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

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

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). He was drafted 102nd overall, fourth round, in the

2009 NHL Entry Draft The 2009 NHL Entry Draft was the 47th Entry Draft. It was held on June 26–27, 2009, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. The Draft was part of the Montreal Canadiens' centennial celebrations. National Hockey League teams took turns select ...

by the Predators.

Playing career

While playing with

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously pla ...

in Sweden, Ekholm was drafted in the fourth round, 102nd overall, by the

of the

(NHL). Following the draft, he participated in Predators 2009 Development Camp. After recording a blazing start with 7 goals and 5 assists in his first 14 games with Brynäs, Ekholm was announced to be the first of four

Elitserien Rookie of the Year SHL Rookie of the Year ( sv, Årets Rookie) is an annual award in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), presented by Svenska Spel since the 1989–90 season. Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, ...

candidates for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. He would go on to win the award.

Nashville Predators

Following the 2010–11 season, Ekholm signed a three-year

entry-level contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

to play with the Predators for the 2011–12 season. After attending their training camp, Ekholm was named to the Predators opening night roster for his North America debut. However, Ekholm was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the 2011–12 season before making his debut in their home opener against the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

. He played two games with the Predators before returning to Brynäs for the remainder of the season. This was due to a predetermined deal Ekholm made with the Predators during the summer. Ekholm tallied one goal and one assists in his first six games back in Sweden. He continued to produce and won the Borje Salming Award as the top defenseman in the Swedish Elite League after talling eight goals and 16 points in 40 regular-season games. Ekholm returned to the Predators for the 2012–13 season but was re-assigned to their

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

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

on 12 September 2012. By December, Ekholm was leading all Milwaukee defensemen in scoring with four goals and seven assists for 11 points. Due to injuries, Ekholm earned an emergency recall to the NHL level on 15 April 2013. At the time, he had tallied 27 points through 55 games. He logged 16:05 minutes of ice time during a game 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 ...

before being reassigned to the Admirals the following day. Ekholm ended the season with 32 points through 59 games. In the second full year of his contract, Ekholm joined the Predators for the start of their 2013–14 season. He played on the Predators third line along with Seth Jones and

Shea Weber Shea Michael Weber (born August 14, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman under contract with the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played sixteen seasons in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and M ...

. Ekholm scored his first NHL goal in a 3–2 win over the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

on 7 January 2014. He finished the season with nine points through 62 games and was one of six NHL defensemen to play at least 50 games and be assessed 10 or fewer penalty minutes. As such, Ekholm signed a two-year, $2.075 million contract with the Predators as a restricted free agent. In the first year of his new contract, Ekholm changed his jersey number to 14 to match his World Championship number. Ekholm set career-highs in goals, assists, and points during the season with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points. Ekholm was named an alternate captain for the Predators on 19 September 2017, along with

Ryan Johansen Ryan Johansen (born July 31, 1992) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre and Captain (ice hockey)#Alternate captains, alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Growi ...

and

Filip Forsberg Carl Filip Anton Forsberg (; born 13 August 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Forsberg was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first ro ...

. On 11 February 2021, Ekholm was listed as week to week with an undisclosed injury following a game against the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

. On 13 October 2021, Ekholm signed a four-year, $25 million contract extension with the Predators with an annual average value of $6.25 million.

Personal life

Ekholm is married to Ida Björnstad, a former sports broadcaster.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekholm, Mattias 1990 births Brynäs IF players Living people Milwaukee Admirals players Mora IK players Nashville Predators draft picks Nashville Predators players People from Borlänge Municipality Swedish ice hockey defencemen Sportspeople from Dalarna County Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States