Mats Simon Hjalmarsson (born February 1, 1989) is a Swedish 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 h ...

forward. He is currently playing with Vaasan

Sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

in the Finnish

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding lea ...

Playing career

In the 2006–07 season, he played for the Frölunda HC in the

J20 SuperElit J20 Nationell is a junior ice hockey league composed of 20 teams in Sweden. Previously known as the J20 SuperElit, it is the highest-level junior ice hockey league in Sweden. The teams are divided in two groups, or divisions, ''Norra'' (North) ...

league and Gislaveds SK in the Division I. He was among the very best players in the Swedish U20 league, scoring 54 points in 41 games. He was consequently selected by the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

, 39th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On June 4, 2014, Hjalmarsson signed a one-year, two-way contract with the

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 ...

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 ...

. He was signed under the influence of General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who previously drafted Hjalmarrson whilst as a scout for the St. Louis Blues. After attending the Blue Jackets training camp for the 2014–15 season, Hjalmarsson failed to make an impression with the club and was initially reassigned to

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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

affiliate, the Springfield Falcons on October 3, 2014. With little interest to play North American minor league hockey, Hjalmarsson was placed on unconditional waivers in order to mutually terminate his contract with the Blue Jackets. On October 15, 2014, Hjalmarsson signalled an intent to play in the KHL when his rights were traded by his draft team,

HC Sibir Novosibirsk Hockey Club Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast (russian: ХК Сибирь, en, Siberia HC), also known as HC Sibir or Sibir Novosibirsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Novosibirsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division in the Ko ...

to CSKA Moscow. On October 28, 2014, he eventually signed a two-year contract with the club. Hjalmarsson returned to Sweden after the end of the 2015–16 season, signing for a second time with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

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Simon Hjalmarsson's profile on Hockey's Future
1989 births Living people Borås HC players HC CSKA Moscow players Frölunda HC players Graz 99ers players Linköping HC players Luleå HF players People from Gislaved Municipality Rögle BK players St. Louis Blues draft picks Ice hockey people from Jönköping County Swedish ice hockey right wingers Vaasan Sport players {{Sweden-icehockey-winger-stub