Tom Nilsson (born August 19, 1993) 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) 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 ...

, currently playing under contract to

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 Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, an ...

(SHL). Nilsson was drafted by 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 ...

, 100th overall in the

2011 NHL Entry Draft The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. 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 Minnesota North Stars hoste ...

while playing in the Swedish

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...

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 ...

Playing career

On March 19, 2013, Nilsson was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was loaned to further develop in the

with

for the 2013–14 season. After his first season in North America with the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

, Nilsson was traded approaching the final year of his contract, along with four other prospects, to the New York Islanders in exchange for

Michael Grabner Michael-René Grabner (born 5 October 1987) is an Austrian professional ice hockey player who is currently an unrestricted free agent. Grabner grew up playing for the local team in Villach, EC VSV. He moved to North America at the age of 17 and j ...

on September 17, 2015. On October 8, 2015, after an unsuccessful attempt to make the Islanders roster and little interest in continuing in the AHL, Nilsson was mutually released from contract with the Islanders. He returned to Sweden and re-joined Frölunda HC into the 2015–16 season, on a three-year contract on October 9, 2015. After his first season in his return with Frölunda HC, in which he won the Swedish championship as well as the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

, Nilsson was again attracted by NHL interest and signed a one-year, two-way contract with 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 ...

on May 26, 2016. Unable to make the Canucks opening night roster, Nilsson was reassigned to AHL affiliate, the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated wit ...

where he played out the duration of his contract for the 2016–17 season. As an impending restricted free agent, Nilsson opted to return to his homeland in agreeing to a two-year deal with an optional third year with Djurgårdens IF of the SHL on May 2, 2017. Following Djurgårdens IF relegation to the HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2021–22 season, Nilsson opted to remain in the SHL by originally agreeing to a two-year contract with

Örebro HK Örebro HK is a Swedish ice hockey club located in Örebro. The team is currently playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the top tier of Swedish ice hockey, since the 2013–14 season. The team's home arena is Behrn Are ...

on 16 April 2022. However, before the commencement of his deal, Nilsson opted to cancel his contract and later returned to Frölunda HC for the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season on 18 July 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1993 births Living people Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Frölunda HC players Mora IK players People from Tyresö Municipality Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Swedish ice hockey defencemen Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Marlies players Utica Comets players Ice hockey people from Stockholm County {{Sweden-icehockey-defenceman-stub