Niclas Bergfors (born 7 March 1987) is a Swedish professional ice hockey right winger currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for Djurgårdens IF then of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He was drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Jersey Devils 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 2010, Florida Panthers in 2011 and Nashville Predators via free agency in 2011. He later joined the KHL's Ak Bars Kazan in late 2011 before signing with Severstal Cherepovets. In 2013, he joined Admiral Vladivostok, where he played for three seasons before joining Amur Khabarovsk in a mid-season trade.

Niclas Bergfors
Bergfors with Djurgårdens IF in 2019
Born (1987-03-07) 7 March 1987 (age 37)
Södertälje, Sweden
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
SHL team
Former teams
Free Agent
Södertälje SK
New Jersey Devils
Atlanta Thrashers
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
Ak Bars Kazan
Severstal Cherepovets
Admiral Vladivostok
Amur Khabarovsk
Linköpings HC
Djurgårdens IF
NHL draft 23rd overall, 2005
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 2004–present

Playing career

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In 2004–05, prior to being drafted to the NHL, Bergfors played for hometown club Södertälje SK of the Elitserien.

Bergfors spent the 2005–06 season with the New Jersey Devils' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany River Rats, scoring 17 goals and 40 points in 65 games. During the season, he represented Sweden at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, 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, Patrice Cormier and their first-round pick in 2010, to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela and Atlanta's second-round pick in 2010.[1]

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, 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 Florida Panthers for Radek Dvořák and Florida's fifth-round draft pick in 2011.[2]

On 4 July 2011, Bergfors signed a one-year, $575,000 contract with the Nashville Predators as a free agent.[3] He was put on unconditional waivers by the Predators on 24 November 2011, making him a free agent.

Bergfors then signed with the Ak Bars Kazan on 2 December 2011,[4] playing just eight games before joining Severstal Cherepovets on a two-year contract.[5] In June 2013, he was drafted at the KHL Expansion Draft by Admiral Vladivostok.

After 12 years playing professionally abroad, Bergfors returned to his native Sweden agreeing to a two-year contract with Linköpings HC of the SHL on May 4, 2016.[6] 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.[7]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Södertälje SK J18 Allsv 4 4 4 8 0
2002–03 Södertälje SK J20 10 0 4 4 2
2003–04 Södertälje SK J18 Allsv 5 14 4 18 4 2 0 1 1 6
2003–04 Södertälje SK J20 31 13 17 30 22 2 1 1 2 0
2004–05 Södertälje SK J20 21 18 16 34 25 3 0 3 3 4
2004–05 Södertälje SK SEL 25 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Albany River Rats AHL 65 17 23 40 10
2006–07 Lowell Devils AHL 60 13 19 32 8
2007–08 Lowell Devils AHL 66 12 15 27 22
2007–08 New Jersey Devils NHL 1 0 0 0 0
2008–09 Lowell Devils AHL 66 22 29 51 14
2008–09 New Jersey Devils NHL 8 1 0 1 0
2009–10 New Jersey Devils NHL 54 13 14 27 10
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 27 8 9 17 0
2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 52 11 18 29 6
2010–11 Florida Panthers NHL 20 1 6 7 2
2011–12 Nashville Predators NHL 11 1 1 2 2
2011–12 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 8 0 1 1 2
2011–12 Severstal Cherepovets KHL 13 4 3 7 4 6 0 1 1 0
2012–13 Severstal Cherepovets KHL 45 8 10 18 2 9 0 3 3 0
2013–14 Admiral Vladivostok KHL 54 17 19 36 18 5 1 1 2 2
2014–15 Admiral Vladivostok KHL 60 21 23 44 14
2015–16 Admiral Vladivostok KHL 25 3 8 11 6
2015–16 Sokol Krasnoyarsk VHL 2 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Amur Khabarovsk KHL 23 6 7 13 10
2016–17 Linköpings HC SHL 37 3 2 5 10
2016–17 Djurgårdens IF SHL 10 2 3 5 2 3 3 1 4 2
2017–18 Djurgårdens IF SHL 52 14 13 27 14 11 2 2 4 2
2018–19 Djurgårdens IF SHL 52 6 15 21 12 19 2 6 8 6
2019–20 Djurgårdens IF SHL 52 12 11 23 22
2020–21 Djurgårdens IF SHL 52 15 12 27 14 3 0 1 1 2
2021–22 Djurgårdens IF SHL 50 2 3 5 8
SHL totals 330 55 59 114 84 38 7 10 17 12
NHL totals 173 35 48 83 20
KHL totals 228 59 71 130 56 20 1 5 6 2

International

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Medal record
Representing   Sweden
Ice hockey
IIHF U18 Championships
  2005 České Budějovice
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Sweden WJC18 5th 6 1 2 3 6
2005 Sweden WJC 6th 6 2 1 3 2
2005 Sweden WJC18   7 6 0 6 0
2006 Sweden WJC 5th 6 3 3 6 2
2007 Sweden WJC 4th 7 0 2 2 0
Junior totals 32 12 8 20 10

References

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  1. ^ "Thrashers ship Kovalchuk to Devils for players, 1st rounder". The Sports Network. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Thrashers acquire Dvorak from Panthers". The Boston Globe. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Preds Sign Free Agent Forward Niclas Bergfors". Nashville Predators. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Ak Bars Kazan sign NHL player Niclas Bergfors". Ak Bars Kazan. 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Bergfors switches to the Cherepovets". sports.ru (in Russian). 5 December 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Niclas Bergfors is ready for new challenge" (in Swedish). Linköping HC. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Niclas Bergfors till Djurgården". Djurgårdens IF Hockey (in Swedish). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by New Jersey Devils first round draft pick
2005
Succeeded by