Markus Näslund

Markus Näslund
Markus Näslund
	Näslund with the Canucks in 2007
Born	30 July 1973 (age 51); Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Played for	Elitserien:; Modo Hockey; NHL:; Pittsburgh Penguins; Vancouver Canucks; New York Rangers
National team	Sweden
NHL Draft	16th overall, 1991; Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	1990–2010

Markus Näslund (born July 30, 1973) is a Swedish professional ice hockey left winger. He played sixteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, and New York Rangers. He was born in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. He was considered very skilled and valuable and he was given the Lester B. Pearson award for the Most Outstanding Player in 2004.

Playing career

Naslund began his career in Sweden, playing for Team Modo Hockey. Naslund was still quite young at that time. He played very well and was drafted by the NHL. In 1994, after being drafted by the NHL, he was taken in by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He started his rookie NHL years here. He did not play many games as he was not seen to be a great player at that time. Finally, the manager of the Penguins traded him to the Vancouver Canucks.

After being traded to the Canucks, Naslund was not used in games. The Vancouver coach thought that he was not very good, so Naslund asked to be traded. But he was not. Suddenly, he was put in the lineup and did quite well compared to the rest of the team, which were struggling. In 2000, he was put with Todd Bertuzzi and they scored many goals together. Naslund was now a superstar and in 2004 he reached career highs and the NHL gave him the Lester B. Pearson award. But in the 2006-2007 season, he struggled because Bertuzzi was traded away and it was much harder for him to score. But in the playoffs that year, he scored many goals in a short period of time. Naslund promised he would be much better next year. In the 2008 offseason, the Rangers signed Naslund to a two-year, $8 million contract. Naslund has spent most of his time with the Rangers playing on the team's first line with Scott Gomez as his center. On May 4, 2009 he announced his retirement from professional hockey.

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