Arizona Coyotes Journey to the desert : Niklas Hjalmarsson
By Jim Lynch
It is a long NHL season, and we here at Howlin’ Hockey have a new series to introduce for all you Arizona Coyotes fans out there. Every Friday we will highlight one Coyotes player and their individual “Journey to the desert”. The series will help highlight all the players on Arizona’s roster.
To kick things off we will highlight one defenseman on the roster that runs the blue line, Niklas Hjalmarsson. Niklas Hjalmarsson was drafted in the 4th round back in 2005. Originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks, Hjalmarsson broke into the league in the 2007-08 season at the age of 20.
Not including the 3 games this season, Hjalmarsson has played in 753 NHL games, putting up 24 goals and 138 assists, more importantly Hjalmarsson has blocked 1493 shots over the course of his career.
Hjalmarsson has averaged more than 100 blocked shots a season. He uses every piece of his body to stop the puck, including his throat. Hjalmarsson has shown a willingness to do whatever it takes to win a game. Last season Hjalmarsson ranked second in the NHL with 187 blocked shots.
| Scoring | Goals | Assists | Shots | Ice Time | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | EV | PP | SH | S | S% | TSA | TOI | ATOI | FOW | FOL | FO% | BLK | HIT | TK | GV | Awards |
| 2007-08 | 20 | CHI | NHL | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 | 13 | 177 | 13:37 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2008-09 | 21 | CHI | NHL | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6.7 | 29 | 315 | 14:59 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2009-10 | 22 | CHI | NHL | 77 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 3.2 | 170 | 1514 | 19:40 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 59 | 29 | 36 | ||
| 2010-11 | 23 | CHI | NHL | 80 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 4.7 | 147 | 1478 | 18:29 | 0 | 0 | 166 | 46 | 32 | 55 | ||
| 2011-12 | 24 | CHI | NHL | 69 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 1.5 | 158 | 1392 | 20:11 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 42 | 30 | 51 | ||
| 2012-13 | 25 | CHI | NHL | 46 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 4.7 | 99 | 962 | 20:54 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 26 | 29 | 40 | ||
| 2013-14 | 26 | CHI | NHL | 81 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 11 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 4.1 | 211 | 1724 | 21:17 | 0 | 0 | 157 | 39 | 21 | 100 | ||
| 2014-15 | 27 | CHI | NHL | 82 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 3.1 | 237 | 1795 | 21:53 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 39 | 41 | 70 | AS-27 | |
| 2015-16 | 28 | CHI | NHL | 81 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 13 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 77 | 2.6 | 184 | 1813 | 22:23 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 32 | 31 | 65 | ||
| 2016-17 | 29 | CHI | NHL | 73 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 8.2 | 135 | 1569 | 21:30 | 0 | 0 | 181 | 23 | 23 | 70 | ||
| 2017-18 | 30 | ARI | NHL | 48 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -3 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3.1 | 84 | 994 | 20:42 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 16 | 16 | 37 | ||
| 2018-19 | 31 | ARI | NHL | 82 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 57 | 0.0 | 109 | 1615 | 19:42 | 0 | 0 | 187 | 45 | 32 | 46 | ||
| 2019-20 | 32 | ARI | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 5 | 34 | 16:59 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10 yrs | CHI | NHL | 623 | 23 | 120 | 143 | 109 | 238 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 108 | 2 | 10 | 587 | 3.9 | 1383 | 12738 | 20:27 | 0 | 0 | 1186 | 329 | 243 | 490 | |||
| 3 yrs | ARI | NHL | 132 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 4 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 91 | 1.1 | 198 | 2643 | 20:01 | 0 | 0 | 307 | 64 | 48 | 83 | |||
| Career | 13 yrs | NHL | 755 | 24 | 138 | 162 | 113 | 300 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 123 | 3 | 12 | 678 | 3.5 | 1581 | 15381 | 20:22 | 0 | 0 | 1493 | 393 | 291 | 573 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/10/2019.
Niklas Hjalmarsson joined the Coyotes via a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks during the NHL draft in 2017. The Arizona Coyotes traded former 1st round pick Connor Murphy to the Blackhawks for Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was Joel Quenneville‘s favorite defenseman at the time.
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Hjalmarsson played in every game last year for the Coyotes, and they will need him again this year if they want to make the playoffs. When you look for experience, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win Hjalmarsson has it.
He may not be the most well-known NHL player, or the most famous, but at the end of the day no one works harder than Niklas Hjalmarsson. Arizona is lucky he found his way to the desert with help from Coyotes GM John Chayka.