Frans Nielsen

Frans Nielsen (born 24 April 1984) is a Danish professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He spent the first 10 years of his NHL career playing with the New York Islanders.

Frans Nielsen
Nielsen with the New York Islanders in 2015
Born (1984-04-24) 24 April 1984
Herning, Denmark
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Detroit Red Wings
Malmö Redhawks
Timrå IK
New York Islanders
Lukko
National team  Denmark
NHL Draft 87th overall, 2002
New York Islanders
Playing career 2001–present

He is the first Danish citizen to play in the NHL.[1]

Playing career
Nielsen with the New York Islanders during the 2013 playoffs

Nielsen was drafted by the New York Islanders in the third round, 87th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. After playing in the Swedish Elitserien since 2001, Nielsen signed a two-year contract with the New York Islanders on 15 May 2006.[2] He has also played for the Danish national team.

With over 216 games in the Elitserien, Nielsen recorded 25 goals and 34 assists for 59 points and 66 penalty minutes.

Nielsen started the 2006–07 AHL season with the Islanders' affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and was recalled to the Islanders on 5 January 2007. He made his NHL debut on 6 January. At the time of his recall, he had recorded a point in nine consecutive American Hockey League (AHL) games, which was three games shy of the Sound Tigers' club record.[3]

During the 2010–11 NHL season Nielsen scored a league-leading seven short-handed goals, including two penalty shot goals in three-on-five shorthanded situations. Near the end of the 2010–11 NHL season Islanders' Captain Doug Weight was quoted as saying of Nielsen "He’s our best all-around player even though his stats don’t necessarily show it". On 7 February 2012, Nielsen signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Islanders.[4]

Nielsen holds the distinction of being the most successful NHL player all-time in shootouts (i.e., scoring percentage among players with a substantial number of shootout attempts). He even scored a goal in a shootout prior to being credited with his first official NHL goal. His signature move in the competition has been dubbed the "Danish Backhand of Judgement", though he has also scored using his forehand. As of March 2013, he has a success rate of 62.5%.[5]

On 25 October 2014, he recorded his first career NHL hat trick against Anders Lindbäck of the Dallas Stars by scoring all three goals in the third period.[6]

Nielsen with Lukko in 2012

On 1 July 2016, Nielsen signed as a free agent to a 6-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings, marking the end of his 10-year tenure with the Islanders.[7] During the 2016–17 season Nielsen was selected to participate in the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.[8]

During the 2017–18 season Nielsen scored his 47th shootout goal, making him the all-time leader in shootout goals.[9][10] The goal came against the New York Rangers in a 3–2 win on 29 December 2017.[9]

International play

Nielsen represented Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where he recorded two assists in six games and won a silver medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–2000 Herning Blue Fox DNK U20 36 18 16 34 6 — — — — —
2000–01 Herning Blue Fox DNK 38 18 19 37 6 — — — — —
2001–02 MIF Redhawks J20 29 15 27 42 8 7 3 7 10 2
2001–02 MIF Redhawks SEL 20 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2002–03 MIF Redhawks J20 2 1 3 4 0 6 5 4 9 6
2002–03 MIF Redhawks SEL 47 3 6 9 10 — — — — —
2003–04 MIF Redhawks SEL 50 9 7 16 28 — — — — —
2004–05 Malmö Redhawks SEL 49 8 7 15 6 — — — — —
2005–06 Timrå IK SEL 50 5 13 18 22 — — — — —
2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 15 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 54 20 24 44 10 — — — — —
2007–08 New York Islanders NHL 16 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 48 10 28 38 18 — — — — —
2008–09 New York Islanders NHL 59 9 24 33 18 — — — — —
2009–10 New York Islanders NHL 76 12 26 38 6 — — — — —
2010–11 New York Islanders NHL 71 13 31 44 38 — — — — —
2011–12 New York Islanders NHL 82 17 30 47 6 — — — — —
2012–13 Lukko SM-l 27 4 20 24 10 — — — — —
2012–13 New York Islanders NHL 48 6 23 29 12 6 0 2 2 0
2013–14 New York Islanders NHL 80 25 33 58 8 — — — — —
2014–15 New York Islanders NHL 78 14 29 43 12 7 1 1 2 0
2015–16 New York Islanders NHL 81 20 32 52 12 11 3 3 6 2
2016–17 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 17 24 41 18 — — — — —
2017–18 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 16 17 33 14 — — — — —
2018–19 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 10 25 35 14 — — — — —
2019–20 Detroit Red Wings NHL 60 4 5 9 8 — — — — —
SHL totals 216 25 34 59 66 — — — — —
NHL totals 896 166 301 467 166 24 4 6 10 2

International
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing Team Europe
Canada Cup / World Cup
2016 Toronto
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2000 Denmark WJC18 B 5th 5 3 4 7 0
2001 Denmark WJC18 D1 7th 3 2 1 3 0
2001 Denmark WJC D2 4th 4 2 2 4 2
2002 Denmark WJC18 D1 6th 3 1 2 3 0
2002 Denmark WJC D2 2nd 4 4 10 14 0
2002 Denmark WC D1 2nd 5 1 1 2 0
2003 Denmark WJC D1 8th 5 3 7 10 0
2003 Denmark WC 11th 6 0 0 0 4
2004 Denmark WJC D1 3rd 5 8 3 11 4
2004 Denmark WC 12th 6 0 3 3 0
2005 Denmark OGQ DNQ 3 2 3 5 0
2005 Denmark WC 14th 6 3 0 3 0
2006 Denmark WC 13th 6 3 0 3 4
2007 Denmark WC 10th 6 0 3 3 6
2010 Denmark WC 8th 7 2 3 5 6
2012 Denmark WC 13th 7 0 3 3 8
2016 Denmark OGQ DNQ 3 0 3 3 0
2016 Team Europe WCH 6 0 2 2 0
2018 Denmark WC 10th 7 3 3 6 0
Junior totals 29 23 29 52 6
Senior totals 68 14 24 38 28

Awards and honors
  • NHL All-Star Game, 2017

References
  1. Grossman, Evan (2007). "When it comes to hockey, it's a small world". NHL.com. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  2. "NYI Sign C Frans Nielsen". NHL.com. 16 May 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  3. "Frans Nielsen recalled by Islanders - Set to become first Daniard player to appear in an NHL game". Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  4. "Nielsen, Islanders agree on four-year extension". Edmonton Journal. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  5. "Shootout career totals". National Hockey League. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. "Nielsen scores three in third to lift Islanders past Stars". Islanders.com. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. Wakiji, Dana (1 July 2016). "Nielsen, Wings agree to contract terms". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. Wakiji, Dana (29 January 2018). "Frans Nielsen thrilled with first All-Star experience". NHL.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  9. "Nielsen nets shootout winner as Wings top Rangers". espn.co.uk. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  10. @NHL (30 December 2017). "All-time leader in shootout goals: Frans Nielsen (47) All-time leader in game-deciding goals: Frans Nielsen (21)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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