Mattias Jonas Bäckman (born October 3, 1992) 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 rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

. Bäckman was drafted 145th overall by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

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 host ...

Playing career

Swedish Hockey League

During the 2008–09 season, Bäckman debuted in Sweden’s SuperElit junior league with the Linköpings' J20 club, appearing in a pair of games without registering a point. During the 2009–10 season, Bäckman spent the majority of the season with Linköpings J20, recording four goals and assists in 33 games in the regular season before adding one goal in six games in the playoffs. Bäckman also played in 5 contests with the big club in the Elitserien without registering a point. During the 2010–11 season, Bäckman appeared in six Elitserien games with Linköpings and two games on loan to First Division team Mjolby. Bäckman scored one goal and two assists for Mjolby. Bäckman recorded two goals and 18 assists in 27 games with Linkopings U20 team and added 2 assists in three playoff games. During the 2011–12 season, Bäckman skated in 42 games for Linköpings as a 19-year-old in his first professional season in Sweden's Elitserien. Bäckman recorded one goal and seven assists. Backman skated with Linkopings U20 team in six regular season games and was plus-two with one goal and one assist. Bäckman was with the U20 team during the run to the SuperElit finals after Linkopings' tenth-place men's team did not make the playoffs and was the team's second-leading scorer with two goals and six assists in six games. During the 2012–13 season, Bäckman appeared in 52 games in his second season with Linköpings, where he recorded two goals and 24 assists. Linköpings finished fifth in the Elitserien and lost to league champion Skelleftea in the playoff semifinals. Backman recorded two goals and assists in 10 playoff games. Bäckman played five games for Sweden in the European Trophy tournament with no points nor penalty minutes. During the 2013–14 season, Bäckman appeared in a career-high 54 games, where he recorded six goals and 15 assists during his third and final SEL season. During the playoffs, Bäckman helped Linköpings reach the semifinals, recording seven assists in 13 games.

North America

On May 21, 2013, Bäckman signed a three year entry-level contract with the

. After Linköpings were eliminated from the playoffs, Bäckman was assigned to the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Lea ...

, and made his

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 ...

(AHL) debut on April 18, 2014, in a game against the Lake Erie Monsters. During the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs, Bäckman recorded one goal and five assists in 10 playoff games. Bäckman began the 2014–15 season with the Griffins. In 18 games he recorded four assists. On December 26, 2014, the Griffins reassigned Bäckman to

Linköpings HC Linköpings may refer to: * Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a Swedish swim team *Linköpings FC, an association football club *Linköpings FF, premier men's football team * Linköpings HC, Linköpings Hockey Club See als ...

. On March 1, 2015, the Detroit Red Wings traded Bäckman and Mattias Janmark-Nylén to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

in exchange for Erik Cole. In the 2016–17 season, in his final year under contract with the Stars and stationed in the AHL with Texas, Bäckman appeared in 41 games with 11 points before he was loaned by the Stars to the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since ...

in exchange for Darren Dietz on March 8, 2017. He appeared in 5 games with the Bears before he was excluded from the post-season roster and left at the conclusion of the regular season. As expected he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Stars at the conclusion of the season, releasing Bäckman to free agency.

Return to Europe

On June 30, 2017, Bäckman signed a one-year contract with EHC Kloten of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL). After completing the 2017–18 season with Kloten, Bäckman returned to Sweden agreeing to terms with Linköpings on a multi-year contract on April 27, 2018. In the midst of the 2021–22 season, his fourth successive season blighted through injury with Linköping, Bäckman announced he was taking a hiatus from professional hockey in order to regain his health on 7 December 2021.

International play

Bäckman represented Sweden at the

2010 World Junior A Challenge The 2010 World Junior A Challenge was an international Junior "A" ice hockey tournament hosted by Hockey Canada. The 2010 World Junior A Challenge was hosted by Penticton, British Columbia, from November 8 to November 14, 2010 at the South Okanaga ...

. Bäckman recorded one assist and four penalty minutes for fifth-place Sweden at the WJAC. Bäckman later represented Sweden at the

2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship (commonly known as the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It began on Decemb ...

, where he won a gold medal. In six games at the WJC, Bäckman recorded three assists.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backman, Mattias 1992 births Living people Detroit Red Wings draft picks Grand Rapids Griffins players Hershey Bears players EHC Kloten players Linköping HC players People from Linköping Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swedish ice hockey defencemen Texas Stars players Sportspeople from Östergötland County