Frans Nielsen

Frans Nielsen (born 24 April 1984) is a Danish former professional ice hockey forward who played with the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL). Nielsen was the first Danish citizen to play in the NHL. Internationally, he played for the Denmark men's national team and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Playing career 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. 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.

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.

Nielsen was very successful in shootouts; he even scored a goal in a shootout before 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. He ended his NHL career with a success rate of 46.23% (49 goals from 106 attempts).

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.

On 1 July 2016, Nielsen signed as a free agent to a six-year, $31.5 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings, marking the end of his 10-year tenure with the Islanders. During the 2016–17 season Nielsen was selected to participate in the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.

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

Unsigned leading into the 2021–22 season, Nielsen signaled the conclusion of his NHL career, returning to Europe and agreeing to a one-year contract with German club Eisbären Berlin of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), on 10 October 2021. In his last professional season, Nielsen was instrumental in providing veteran leadership to Berlin, posting 12 goals and 27 points through 33 regular season games. He added seven points in 12 playoff games to help Eisbären Berlin defend its DEL championship.

International play Nielsen represented Denmark fourteen times at the senior level. In 2002, he made his senior debut when Denmark was promoted to the IIHF elite division.

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

Nielsen was part of the Danish roster to qualify for their first Olympic appearance in 2022 in Beijing, China. During the 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Nielsen, along with curler Madeleine Dupont, served as flag bearers for Denmark. Nielsen appeared in all five games at the tournament, posting two goals and 3 points in a 7th place finish for Denmark.

Nielsen retired from professional ice hockey after the Danish elimination from the 2022 IIHF World Championship, following a 1-7 defeat to Slovakia. In the tournament, Danes were eliminated despite collecting historic 12 points in the group stage.

Nielsen was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame as part of their 2025 class, the third inductee from Denmark, after Jesper Damgaard and Jørgen Hviid.

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 DEN U20 36 18 16 34 6 — — — — — 2000–01 Herning Blue Fox DEN 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 — — — — — 2020–21 Detroit Red Wings NHL 29 1 5 6 0 — — — — — 2021–22 Eisbären Berlin DEL 33 12 15 27 6 12 4 3 7 4 SHL totals 216 25 34 59 66 — — — — — NHL totals 925 167 306 473 166 24 4 6 10 2

International 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 2nd 6 0 2 2 0 2018 Denmark WC 10th 7 3 3 6 0 2021 Denmark OGQ Q 3 0 3 3 0 2022 Denmark OG 7th 5 2 1 3 0 2022 Denmark WC 9th 7 0 0 0 0Junior totals 29 23 29 52 6 Senior totals 83 16 28 44 28

Awards and honours Award Year RefMetal Ligaen Rookie of the Year 2001 Champion 2001 NHL NHL All-Star Game 2017 Bob Nystrom Award 2011DEL Champion 2022 International IIHF Hall of Fame 2025