Rasmus Asplund (born 3 December 1997) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the

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 ...

of 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). He was drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in the second round (33rd overall) in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

Playing career

Asplund made his

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 ...

debut playing with

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserie ...

during the

2014–15 SHL season The 2014–15 SHL season was the 40th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 10 September 2014 and ended on 5 March 2015. The following playoffs began on 12 March and ended on 23 April 2015. Skellefteå AIK won the ...

. Following his fourth SHL season, Asplund signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

on 23 May 2018. On 16 September 2020, with the North American set to be delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Asplund remained in Sweden to begin playing on loan from the Sabres with

Västerås IK Västerås IK (''Västerås Ishockey klubb'') is a professional ice hockey club from Västerås, Sweden. The team is currently playing in the second-tier league in Sweden, HockeyAllsvenskan. Västerås IK played 12 seasons in the top Swedish leagu ...

of the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

. He recorded 9 points through 14 games in the second tier Allsvenskan before ending his loan and returning to the Sabres. Asplund was considered one of the top two-way forward prospects in the NHL following the 2021–22 season. Asplund posted strong defensive metrics on his way to finish in the top 20 for the 2021–22 Frank J. Selke Trophy awarded to the top defensive forward. In the following 2022–23 season, Asplund in a reduced role due to the Sabres emerging forward depth was limited to just 27 regular season games, collecting two goals and eight points. At the NHL trade deadline, Asplund was traded by the Sabres to the

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 ...

in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in the

2024 NHL entry draft The 2024 NHL entry draft was the 62nd NHL entry draft, entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 28–29, 2024, at Sphere (venue), Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. As per their April 2024 agreement, all draft rights held by ...

on 3 March 2023. Leaving the Predators after failing to receive a qualifying offer, Asplund was signed as a free agent on a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers on 5 July 2023.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * 1997 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players Färjestad BK players Florida Panthers players People from Filipstad Nashville Predators players Rochester Americans players Ice hockey people from Värmland County Swedish ice hockey centres 21st-century Swedish sportsmen VIK Västerås HK players {{Sweden-icehockey-player-stub