Nico Sturm (born May 3, 1995) is a German 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for 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 ...

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). Sturm won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Playing career

Amateur

Sturm played as a youth in his native Germany, appearing with

ESV Kaufbeuren ESV Kaufbeuren (ESVK) is a professional ice hockey team based in Kaufbeuren, Germany. They currently play in DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ah ...

in the

German Development League The German Development League (German: Deutsche Nachwuchsliga, DNL) is the elite junior league of the German Ice Hockey Federation. It was founded in 2000 in cooperation with the national hockey associations. Its objective is to educate and care for ...

(DNL) from 2011 to 2014. In order to continue his development, Sturm opted to move to North America, playing in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

with the

Corpus Christi IceRays The Corpus Christi IceRays are a Tier II junior ice hockey team playing in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The IceRays are based in Corpus Christi, Texas, and play in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The "IceRays" mo ...

and the

Austin Bruins The Austin Bruins are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Central Division. The Bruins play their home games in the Riverside Arena in Austin, Minnesota. History The Bruins were an expansion team that first pl ...

. Sturm was selected by the

Tri-City Storm The Tri-City Storm is a Tier I junior ice hockey team based in Kearney, Nebraska, that plays in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Its name refers to the three central Nebraskan cities of Kearney, Hastings, and Gr ...

, 72nd overall, in the 2015 USHL Entry Draft. On June 30, 2015, Sturm was announced to have signed with the Storm, while also committing to play collegiate hockey at

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...

of the ECAC. In the 2015–16 season, Sturm recorded 39 points in 57 games with the Tri-City Storm and added 6 points in 5 playoff games to help Tri-City win the

Clark Cup The United States Hockey League began in 1961 as a semi-professional ice hockey league. Starting with the 1979–80 season, the league became a strictly Amateur league, and began awarding its champion the Clark Cup Trophy. All champions of the USHL ...

. Sturm played his freshman season with the Clarkson University Golden Knights in the 2016–17 season, collecting 21 points in 38 games to earn a selection to the ECAC All-Rookie Team. In his second year, Sturm continued to realise his potential, increasing his offensive production with 37 points in 40 games. His solid two-way play was noticed as he led the NCAA with a 61.7% face-off win percentage and was named the 2017–18 ECAC Best Defensive Forward. Returning as co-captain for his junior season with Clarkson in 2018–19, Sturm led the team in scoring and assists with 45 points in 39 games. In his standout season for the top ranked Golden Knights, he was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward for the second consecutive season, a Top Ten Hobey Baker Award Finalist, a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year Award, named to the 2019 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team and an ECAC First-Team All-League selection.

Professional

Minnesota Wild

As an undrafted free agent, Sturm attracted league wide NHL interest following his junior season, opting to forgo his senior year in signing a one-year, entry-level contract for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

on April 1, 2019. He immediately joined the out of contention Wild making his NHL debut in a 3–0 defeat to 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 ...

on April 4, 2019. Sturm mostly played in the Wild'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

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

, in the 2019–20 season. He earned a call-up to the NHL during the season and recorded his first two NHL assists in a six-game stint with the Wild. When the season was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Wild were admitted to a play-in round of the playoffs when the NHL resumed. Sturm would play in two games of the Wild's five-game series 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 ...

, and scored his first NHL goal in Game 4 against

Jacob Markström Jacob Anders Markström (born 31 January 1990) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender and plays for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League. He was selected by the Florida Panthers in the second round, 31st overall, of the 2008 ...

Colorado Avalanche

On March 15, 2022, he was traded by the Wild to Division rivals, the

, in exchange for

Tyson Jost Tyson Jost (born March 14, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward, currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL). Born in St. Albert, Alberta to a single mother, Jost moved to British Columbia to ...

. On June 26, 2022, Sturm helped the Avalanche claim their first Stanley Cup in 21 years.

San Jose Sharks

On the back of his success with the Avalanche, Sturm as a free agent was signed to a three-year, $6 million contract with the San Jose Sharks on July 13, 2022.

Personal

Sturm is in a relationship with fellow Clarkson alum and professional hockey player Taylor Turnquist.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Nico 1995 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey players Colorado Avalanche players German ice hockey centres Iowa Wild players Minnesota Wild players San Jose Sharks players Sportspeople from Augsburg Stanley Cup champions Tri-City Storm players Undrafted National Hockey League players German expatriate ice hockey people German expatriate sportspeople in the United States