| Niklas Sundstrom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 6 June 1975 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden |
| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Played for | New York Rangers San Jose Sharks Montreal Canadiens |
| National team |  Sweden
|
| NHL Draft | 8th overall, 1993 New York Rangers |
| Playing career | 1991–2013 |
Niklas Sundstrom (born Lars Niklas Sundstrom on June 6, 1975 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a former professional ice hockey player who started his professional career in Modo Hockey.
He played forward and was not known for his goal scoring ability, but for his defensive play.
Playing Career[]
As a junior player, Niklas formed a line in Modo with future NHL stars Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund.
He was drafted eighth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers, playing on Wayne Gretzky's line.
On June 26, 1999, Niklas was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Dan Cloutier and the Rangers' first (Nikita Alexeev and third- (which was later traded to San Jose and later traded to Chicago who selected Igor Radulov) round choices in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft for Chicago's first-round choice (which was previously acquired and the Rangers selected Pavel Brendl) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
On August 4, 1999, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks with the New York Rangers' third-round choice (which was previously acquired and later traded to Chicago who selected Igor Radulov) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Bill Houlder, Andrei Zyuzin, Shawn Burr and Steve Guolla.
With the Sharks, Niklas wore the number 24 for the San Jose Sharks. On January 23, 2003, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens along with San Jose's third-round choice (which was later traded to Los Angeles who selected Paul Baier) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Jeff Hackett.
With the Canadiens, he wore the number 37. On October 1, 2004, Niklas was signed as a free agent by Milano in Italy during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
On June 6, 2006 (after playing 11 NHL seasons), he returned to Sweden where he was signed as a free agent by Modo.
With Modo, Niklas led the team to a surprise title during his first season, scoring several vital goals in the playoffs.
He formed an effective partnership with Norwegian Per-Åge Skrøder, leading to Skrøder winning the top scorer rankings in 2009.
Despite Niklas having the best plus-minus rating in the entire series, Modo still missed the playoffs that year.
On December 3, 2013, Niklas officially announced his retirement.
Career Statistics[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991-92 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 40 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 37 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 1994–95 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 33 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | New York Rangers | NHL | 82 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1996-97 | New York Rangers | NHL | 82 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1997-98 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998-99 | New York Rangers | NHL | 81 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999-00 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 79 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 22 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2000-01 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 82 | 10 | 39 | 49 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2001-02 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 73 | 9 | 30 | 39 | 50 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2002-03 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 47 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002-03 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 33 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003-04 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2004-05 | HC Milano | Italy | 33 | 9 | 27 | 36 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005-06 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 55 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2006-07 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 47 | 9 | 36 | 45 | 116 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 26 | ||
| 2007-08 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 45 | 7 | 30 | 37 | 128 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14 | ||
| 2008-09 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 49 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009-10 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 32 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010-11 | Modo Hockey | SEL | 53 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 750 | 117 | 232 | 349 | 256 | 59 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 22 | ||||
| SEL totals | 345 | 73 | 177 | 250 | 257 | 39 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 42 | ||||