Nicklas Lidström

Erik Nicklas Lidström (born 28 April 1970) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman and current vice president of hockey operations for the Detroit Red Wings.

Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings 53rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Lidström joined the team in the 1991–92 season, though he returned to play for Västerås IK for a brief period during the 1994–95 NHL lockout.

Lidström scored 60 points in his rookie season, finishing second to Pavel Bure in voting for that year's Calder Trophy.

He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings from 1991 to 2012, which he captained for the final six seasons of his career.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defencemen in NHL history and nicknamed "The Perfect Human."

Over his 20 NHL seasons, Lidström won four Stanley Cup championships, seven James Norris Memorial Trophies (awarded to the NHL's top defenceman), one Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff most valuable player, and was voted into 12 NHL All-Star Games.

The Red Wings never missed the playoffs during his career, the longest streak of playoff appearances for a player in league history.

Lidström was the first European-born-and-trained captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team, as well as the first European player named playoff MVP.

Lidström is also the all-time leader in games played with a single NHL team by a European-born player.

He was selected to the 1992 NHL All-Rookie Team, along with fellow Red Wings defenceman Vladimir Konstantinov.

In his final 16 seasons (beginning in 1995–96), he finished no lower than sixth place in Norris Trophy voting.

Lidström played his entire 20-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, finishing his career with the second-most Stanley Cup playoff games played in NHL history, with 263 appearances (Chris Chelios ranks first with 266).

He was a member of four Stanley Cup-winning teams, in 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02 and 2007–08.

Lidström was an alternate captain of the Red Wings since the 1997–98 season, but was awarded the captaincy after the 2006 retirement of long-time Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.

It was an honour made more special by the fact that he became the first European captain in franchise history.

In his first year of captaincy, Lidström led the Red Wings to the Western Conference Finals, but lost to eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks.

In the off-season, Lidström joined an elite group by capturing the Norris Trophy as the NHL's outstanding defenceman for the fifth time.

Lidström became the fourth defenceman in NHL history with as many as five Norris Trophy wins, joining Hockey Hall of Famers Bobby Orr (eight), Doug Harvey (seven) and Ray Bourque (five).

He won three consecutive Norris Trophies from 2001 to 2003 to become the first defenceman since Bobby Orr to win three straight.

In the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lidström was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player during the playoffs, becoming the first European to ever be awarded the trophy.

Lidström began his career in Avesta, Sweden, playing with Skogsbo SK, before moving on to play with VIK Västerås HK of the Swedish Elitserien.

In three seasons with the team, he played in 103 games, scoring 12 goals and 30 assists.

In the 2003–04 season, he played in the 1,000th game of his career, having missed only 17 games in 12 1⁄2 seasons (1994–95 was shortened to 48 games instead of the usual 82 by a labour dispute).

Lidström was nominated for the award a total of 12 times in his last 14 seasons in the NHL, the first three times finishing as the runner-up, and won it in seven of his last ten (2004–05 had no winner due to the NHL lockout).

Save for the cancelled 2004–05 season lockout year, Lidström played in the playoffs for an NHL record 20 consecutive seasons (an honour he shares with Larry Robinson).

Known for his durability, Lidström consistently ranked amongst the top in the NHL in ice time per game.

However, due to the new terms of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement that was implemented during the 2004–05 season, salaries on pre-existing contracts were reduced by 24%, which lowered his compensation to $7.6 million.

That season, he posted a career-high 64 assists and 16 goals to for 80 points.

He averaged 28:07 minutes in the 2005–06 season, a career-high.

Lidström was set to make $10 million during the 2005–06 season.

Instead of seeking more money elsewhere, Lidström decided to remain with Detroit for the same annual salary as he earned during the 2005–06 season.

On 30 June 2006, it was announced that Lidström had signed a two-year, $15.2 million contract extension with the Red Wings.

Near the beginning of the 2007–08 season, in an 8 October win against the Edmonton Oilers, Lidström registered two assists to surpass Peter Forsberg as the second-highest scoring Swedish-born NHL player of all-time.

Several months later, on 3 April 2008, he assisted on a goal by Johan Franzén to tie Luc Robitaille at 42nd in the all-time NHL assists, with 726.

Later in the season, on 26 December, Lidström signed a contract extension through the 2009–10 season.

Accordingly, he trails only Mats Sundin (as of the end of the 2011–12 season, Lidström has 1,142 points to Sundin's 1,349).

Lidström was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2014.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on 9 November 2015.

In 2017, Lidström was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.

Widely considered one of the greatest defencemen of all time, Lidström was awarded the Norris Trophy seven times, a feat matched by only two other players: Doug Harvey and by Bobby Orr (who won the trophy eight times).