Eric Martinsson (born October 22, 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 b ...

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 ...

who is currently playing for

Växjö Lakers Växjö Lakers Hockey Club (often referred to as the Växjö Lakers or VLH) is a Swedish ice hockey club from Växjö in Sweden. The club plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien), the top-level league of Swedish ice hockey, a ...

of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Playing career

Martinsson originally played as a youth with

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–201 ...

in the

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 ...

before spending one North American junior season with the

Des Moines Buccaneers The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team has played in the Western Conference since the 2009–10 season. History The Buccaneers began USHL play during the 1980–81 season ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

(USHL) in the 2012–13 season. After he was passed over in the

2013 NHL Entry Draft The 2013 NHL Entry Draft was the 51st NHL Entry Draft. All seven rounds of the draft took place on June 30, 2013, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The top three selections were Nathan MacKinnon going to the Colorado Avalanche, Al ...

, Martinsson opted to return to Sweden to make his debut with Rögle BK in the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football le ...

in the 2013–14 season. He featured in 19 games for 3 assists, before breaking out offensively in the postseason qualifiers with 14 points in 16 games. With Rögle BK confined to the second tier Allsvenskan, Martinsson signed an initial two-year contract with the

of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) on April 15, 2014. Martinsson made his SHL debut playing with Lakers during the 2014–15 SHL season, and won a

Le Mat Trophy The Le Mat Trophy ( sv, Le Mat-pokalen, "Le Mat Cup") is the trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth ...

. After helping the Växjö Lakers to a second Swedish championship in the 2017–18 season, Martinsson as a free agent, agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confe ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) on May 2, 2018. After attending the Wild's training camp, Martinsson was assigned to begin the 2018–19 season, with

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

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 AHL season, 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines), Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL af ...

. Martinsson produced 9 assists in 13 games before opting to mutually terminate his contract with the Wild, after being placed on unconditional waivers on November 28, 2018. On November 28, 2018, Martinsson joined Swiss club,

Genève-Servette HC The Genève-Servette HC (also called Servette or GSHC) is a professional ice hockey club based in Geneva, Switzerland and competing in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. The team plays their home games at th ...

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) for the remainder of the season on a one-year deal worth CHF 500,000. He was brought to the team as a replacement for injured

Johan Fransson Johan Fransson (born February 18, 1985) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player, currently playing with Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he is a defenceman. He has also played in leagues in Finland, Switzerland, and ...

. On January 6, 2019, Martinsson was hit from behind, falling head first into the boards, by

Marc Wieser Marc Wieser (born 13 October 1987) is a Swiss professional ice hockey right wing who is currently playing for HC Davos of the National League (NL). His brother Dino Wieser Dino Wieser (born June 13, 1989) is a Swiss professional ice hockey ...

in a game against

HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team players a ...

. Martinsson left the game and went straight to the hospital in Davos, where he spent the night, before returning to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

the next day. He suffered a severe concussion which sidelined him for the next two months. Whereas Wieser was only fined CHF 5,100 and suspended for three games. Martinsson returned to Geneva's lineup with 10 games remaining in the regular season and was a healthy scratch for games 3 and 4 of the 2019 Quarterfinals against

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most ...

. Martinsson displayed poor performances following his return and was not offered a contract extension by Geneva, making him a free agent. On April 17, 2019, Martinsson returned to Sweden, agreeing to a three-year contract with HV71 of the SHL. Following the conclusion of 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 ...

season, having regressed offensively with just 1 goal and 12 points through 44 games, Martinsson was mutually released from the remaining two years of his contract with HV71 on 15 March 2023.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinsson, Eric 1992 births Barys Astana players Des Moines Buccaneers players Genève-Servette HC players HV71 players Iowa Wild players Living people Rögle BK players Swedish ice hockey defencemen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Växjö Lakers players