Niklas Per Andersson (born 20 May 1971) 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 hock ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In his career, he spent time with several

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) teams as well as various minor professional teams in North America, but mostly played for

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

in the Swedish

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

. He is the younger brother of former hockey player Mikael Andersson and the father of

Lias Andersson Lias Andersson (born 13 October 1998) is a Swedish professional ice hockey forward for the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the ...

Playing career

Andersson was selected in the 4th round (68th overall) of the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the pla ...

by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, while he was playing in his native Sweden for Västra Frölunda HC. At the age of 20, he left Frölunda to play in the

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) for the Nordiques' affiliate, the

Halifax Citadels The Halifax Citadels were a professional ice hockey team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They played in the American Hockey League between 1988 and 1993. They were created by the relocation of the Fredericton Express and filled a void left by th ...

. He played there for two years until the team moved to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Ontario. After a year with Cornwall he was signed as a free agent by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

, and assigned to their International Hockey League (IHL) club, the

Denver Grizzlies Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(which became the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars ...

the following year), until being recalled halfway through the 1995–96 season. He finished that year with the Islanders, and played another two before signing with 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 ...

prior to the 1997–98 season. Andersson spent the following year with two minor clubs, one in the AHL and one in the IHL. He was not re-signed by the Sharks, and instead went to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. He never played in the NHL for the Leafs, and was instead sent to the IHL's

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

until he traded back to the Islanders on 17 August 1999 for

Craig Charron Craig Charron (November 15, 1967 – October 19, 2010) was an American professional ice hockey center from North Easton, Massachusetts. He attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he played for four seasons and served as captai ...

. Partway through the season he was claimed off of waivers by 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 ...

and played seven games for them before being placed back on waivers and picked up by the Islanders again. He finished the year with them, playing in 17 games and scoring 10 points. During the following off season he was signed by the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

, but played most of the season in the IHL with the

again. After that season, he returned to his native Sweden and his old club

, for whom he had been a key player the past nine seasons. On 9 March 2011, Andersson decided to retire completely from hockey, having played 763 games for

. He is currently an amateur scout covering

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Niklas 1971 births Living people Calgary Flames players Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Cornwall Aces players Denver Grizzlies players Frölunda HC players Kentucky Thoroughblades players Halifax Citadels players Los Angeles Kings scouts Nashville Predators players New York Islanders players People from Kungälv Municipality Quebec Nordiques draft picks Quebec Nordiques players San Jose Sharks players Swedish expatriate ice hockey people Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Swedish ice hockey left wingers Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County