Nils Ekman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
Pittsburgh Penguins Tampa Bay Lightning San Jose Sharks |
| Nationality |  Sweden |
| Born | March 11, 1976, Stockholm, Sweden |
| NHL Draft | 5th Rnd, 107th overall, 1994 Calgary Flames |
| Pro Career | 1999 – present |
Nils Ekman (born March 11, 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden) is an ice hockey left winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.
Contents |
[edit] Junior career
Ekman spent his formative years playing in his native Sweden. In 1993-1994, after scoring four goals and five assists in eleven games for Hammarby IF of the Swedish junior league, Ekman was called to the parent team in the Swedish Allsvenskan hockey league, where he had nine points (7 + 2) in eighteen games. Catching the eye of the Calgary Flames, he was drafted by them in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in the 5th round as the 107th pick overall. In 1994-1995, after a short two-game stint in the Swedish junior league, he had 10 goals and 7 assists in 29 games for the parent club. After another year in Hammarby, where he had 9 goals and 7 assists in 26 games, he went to play in Finland.
[edit] NHL Career Statistics
Regular Season
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1999-00 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 28 2 2 4 36
2000-01 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 43 9 11 20 40
2003-04 San Jose Sharks NHL 82 22 33 55 34
2005-06 San Jose Sharks NHL 77 21 36 57 54
NHL Totals 230 54 82 136 164
[edit] Finnish career
Ekman played a large part of his early years in Finland. In 1996-1997, he played with Kiekko-Espoo of the SM-liiga, scoring 24 goals and adding 19 assists in fifty games. He also added two goals in four playoff games. The next year, his totals declined, as he notched 14 goals with 14 assists in 42 games, causing many to believe he was another European-drafted bust. However, Ekman had a strong playoffs with two goals and two assists in seven games.
Following his team's elimination from the playoffs, Ekman signed a contract with Calgary, who were impressed at his development, and Ekman joined the Saint John Flames of the AHL. However, he played in no games, and he returned to Kiekko-Espoo for the 1998-1999 season, notching 34 (20 + 14) points in fifty-two games. He would not return to play in Europe for three years as he left for North America.
[edit] NHL Career
Having no room for him, on November 20, 1999, Calgary traded Ekman to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with a 4th round selection (Vladimir Gorbunov) in the 2000 Entry Draft for Andreas Johansson. He made his debut with the Lightning that season, but scored only 4 (2 + 2) points in 28 games. To gain more experience, he joined the IHL and split the 1999-2000 season with the Detroit Vipers and the Long Beach Ice Dogs, notching 32 points (18, 14) in 37 games and earning rookie of the year honors. He also had 6 (3 + 3) points in 5 playoff games for Long Beach. During the 2000-01 season, after 36 points (22 + 14) in 33 games for Detroit, he was recalled to the NHL, where he improved on his earlier showing and scored 20 points (9 + 11) in 43 games. However, he had a horrendous negative 15 plus/minus rating.
In the summer of 2001 he was traded to the New York Rangers, but after failing to get a place on the squad he moved back to Sweden and played with Djurgården IF of the Swedish Elitserien for a season and scored 31 points (16 + 15) in 38 games while playing a strong two-way game. Determined to make the NHL, in the 2003 NHL season he came back to North America and played with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. Showing how far he had developed, Ekman put up 30 goals and 36 assists in 57 games. However, he was unable to crack the New York lineup because the team preferred to give veterans playing time over youngsters.
On August 12, 2003 he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Chad Wiseman. A team that had completely flopped the previous season, the Sharks were willing to give the untested Ekman a chance. For the 2004 season he posted a career high in goals (22) and had 33 assists, as well as a franchise-record plus 35 rating, negating all doubts about defensive struggles. Still, he had only 3 assists in sixteen games for San Jose in the playoffs
[edit] NHL lockout
During the NHL lockout, Ekman proved that 2004 was no fluke with 18 goals and 27 assists in 44 games for Djurgarden. This was the highest total on the team, and fifth-highest in the league (eighth-highest in goals) that had players like Peter Forsberg and Henrik Zetterberg.
[edit] Post-Lockout
He started the 2005-06 campaign rather slowly coming back from the lockout. In fact in his first 29 games he only scored seven points. However, he started to click on a line with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, and he responded by scoring 29 points in his next 23 games, including a four-game span when he had three four-point games. Currently, he has set a new career high for assists and points with 36 and 57 respectively, along with 21 goals in 76 games.
On July 20, 2006, Ekman was traded along with goaltending prospect Patrick Ehelechner to the Penguins in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft-pick.
On November 8, 2006, Ekman scored a natural hat trick in four minutes and ten seconds in the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning, setting a Penguins franchise record.
Currently, Ekman is in the final year of a two-year-contract worth roughly US$2.2 million.
[edit] Awards
- IHL - Gary F. Longman Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)
