Niclas Bergfors (born 7 March 1987) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He most recently played for

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

then of the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL). He was drafted by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL)'s

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in the first round, 23rd overall, at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, playing for the organization for four-and-a-half seasons before joining the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

2010,

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

in 2011 and

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

via free agency in 2011. He later joined the KHL's

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

in late 2011 before signing with

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey club based in Cherepovets, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel (Builder) Cher ...

. In 2013, he joined

Admiral Vladivostok Hockey Club Admiral, also known as Admiral Vladivostok, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Vladivostok, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Admiral play its home games at Fetisov ...

, where he played for three seasons before joining

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Khabarovsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Located in the Russian Far East, th ...

in a mid-season trade.

Playing career

In 2004–05, prior to being drafted to the NHL, Bergfors played for hometown club

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of El ...

of the Elitserien. Bergfors spent the 2005–06 season with the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with ...

, scoring 17 goals and 40 points in 65 games. During the season, he represented

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

at the

2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2006 WJHC'') were held in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The championships began on December 26, 2005, and finished on January 5, 2006. Games were played at GM Place and ...

, scoring three goals and six points in six games. In 2006–07, Bergfors played for New Jersey's new AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils, where he scored 13 goals and 32 points in 60 games. He once again played with Sweden in the 2007 World Junior Championships, where he posted two assists in seven games. Bergfors returned to Lowell for the 2007–08 season, where he saw his production decrease to 12 goals and 27 points in 66 games. He did make his NHL debut, however, going pointless in one game with New Jersey. He spent the majority of the 2008–09 season with Lowell, scoring 22 goals and 51 points in 66 games, also playing in eight games with New Jersey, scoring one goal. In 2009–10, Bergfors made the Devils' opening day roster, and in 54 games with New Jersey, he scored 13 goals and 27 points. On 4 February 2010, however, the Devils traded Bergfors, along with

Johnny Oduya David Johnny Oduya (born 1 October 1981) is a Swedes, Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Oduya is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 Stanley Cup Fina ...

, Patrice Cormier and their first-round pick in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, to the

in exchange for

Ilya Kovalchuk Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (; born 15 April 1983) is a Russian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), winger. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals in ...

, Anssi Salmela and Atlanta's second-round pick in 2010. Bergfors finished 2009–10 with Atlanta, where he scored eight goals and 17 points in 27 games. After the season, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team after scoring 21 goals and 44 points in 81 games with both the Devils and Thrashers. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Bergfors saw his numbers slide, scoring 11 goals and 29 points in 52 games with Atlanta. On 28 February 2011, the Thrashers traded Bergfors and Patrick Rissmiller to the

for Radek Dvořák and Florida's fifth-round draft pick in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. On 4 July 2011, Bergfors signed a one-year, $575,000 contract with the

as a free agent. He was put on unconditional waivers by the Predators on 24 November 2011, making him a free agent. Bergfors then signed with the

on 2 December 2011, playing just eight games before joining

on a two-year contract. In June 2013, he was drafted at the KHL Expansion Draft by

. After 12 years playing professionally abroad, Bergfors returned to his native Sweden agreeing to a two-year contract with

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 also< ...

of the SHL on May 4, 2016. On February 15, 2017, Niklas left mid-season to sign a contract with fellow SHL club, Djurgårdens IF Hockey until the end of the 2018 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergfors, Niclas 1987 births Living people Ice hockey people from Södertälje Admiral Vladivostok players Ak Bars Kazan players Albany River Rats players Amur Khabarovsk players Atlanta Thrashers players Djurgårdens IF (men's hockey) players Florida Panthers players Linköping HC players Lowell Devils players Nashville Predators players NHL first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players Severstal Cherepovets players Södertälje SK players Swedish ice hockey right wingers Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States