Niklas Andersson

Niklas Per Andersson (born 20 May 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey left winger. In his career, he spent time with several National Hockey League (NHL) teams as well as various minor professional teams in North America, but mostly played for Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien. He is the younger brother of former hockey player Mikael Andersson and the father of Lias Andersson.

Playing career Andersson was selected in the 4th round (68th overall) of the 1989 NHL entry draft by the Quebec Nordiques, while he was playing in his native Sweden for Västra Frölunda HC. At the age of 20, he left Frölunda to play in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the Nordiques' affiliate, the Halifax Citadels. He played there for two years until the team moved to Cornwall, Ontario. After a year with Cornwall he was signed as a free agent by the New York Islanders, and assigned to their International Hockey League (IHL) club, the Denver Grizzlies (which became the Utah Grizzlies the following year), until being recalled halfway through the 1995–96 season. He finished that year with the Islanders, and played another two before signing with the San Jose Sharks prior to the 1997–98 season.

Andersson spent the following year with two minor clubs, one in the AHL and one in the IHL. He was not re-signed by the Sharks, and instead went to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He never played in the NHL for the Leafs, and was instead sent to the IHL's Chicago Wolves until he traded back to the Islanders on 17 August 1999 for Craig Charron. Partway through the season he was claimed off of waivers by the Nashville Predators and played seven games for them before being placed back on waivers and picked up by the Islanders again. He finished the year with them, playing in 17 games and scoring 10 points.

During the following off season he was signed by the Calgary Flames, but played most of the season in the IHL with the Chicago Wolves again. After that season, he returned to his native Sweden and his old club Frölunda HC, for whom he had been a key player the past nine seasons.

On 9 March 2011, Andersson decided to retire completely from hockey, having played 763 games for Frölunda HC. He is currently an amateur scout covering Europe for the Los Angeles Kings.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Västra Frölunda HC SWE II 1555106 864104 1988–89 Västra Frölunda HC SWE II 3012243624 1046104 1989–90 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 3810192914 ————— 1990–91 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 226101616 ————— 1990–91 Västra Frölunda HC Allsv 178152312 1063924 1991–92 Halifax Citadels AHL 578263441 ————— 1992–93 Halifax Citadels AHL 7632508242 ————— 1992–93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 30112 ————— 1993–94 Cornwall Aces AHL 421834528 ————— 1994–95 Denver Grizzlies IHL 6622396128 158132110 1995–96 Utah Grizzlies IHL 3013223525 ————— 1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 4814122612 ————— 1996–97 New York Islanders NHL 7412314357 ————— 1997–98 Utah Grizzlies IHL 216202624 43144 1997–98 Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL 3710283854 ————— 1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 50002 ————— 1998–99 Chicago Wolves IHL 6517476449 1022410 1999–2000 Chicago Wolves IHL 5220214159 96174 1999–2000 New York Islanders NHL 1737108 ————— 1999–2000 Nashville Predators NHL 70110 ————— 2000–01 Chicago Wolves IHL 6633397281 161141514 2000–01 Calgary Flames NHL 110114 ————— 2001–02 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 4114324664 70226 2002–03 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 4924184259 1537108 2003–04 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 4617193680 71782 2004–05 Frölunda HC SEL 4414274116 14103134 2005–06 Frölunda HC SEL 5013385153 176101610 2006–07 Frölunda HC SEL 5121274875 ————— 2007–08 Frölunda HC SEL 4812374950 724612 2008–09 Frölunda HC SEL 5216213722 1134710 2009–10 Frölunda HC SEL 5415173250 723529 2010–11 Frölunda HC SEL 5314304430 ————— NHL totals 16529538285 ————— SEL totals 548176295471529 8527406781

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1988 Sweden EJC 6 4 9 13 2 1989 Sweden EJC 6 6 3 9 8 1989 Sweden WJC 7 2 0 2 0 1990 Sweden WJC 7 3 3 6 6 1991 Sweden CC 6 0 1 1 0 1991 Sweden WJC 7 5 3 8 8 1996 Sweden WC 6 1 1 2 8 1996 Sweden WCH 1 0 0 0 0 1997 Sweden WC 11 0 2 2 9 2002 Sweden WC 8 3 2 5 2 2003 Sweden WC 9 1 5 6 4 2004 Sweden WC 9 1 1 2 2 Junior totals 33 20 18 38 24 Senior totals 50 6 12 18 24