Veteran forward Marcus Nilson has been released from his professional tryout with the New Jersey Devils and is now headed back to his native land in Sweden.
The 32 year-old Swede was hopeful to make the Devils’ roster this season after a two year absence from the NHL. Nilson has played 9 NHL seasons split between only Florida and Calgary. In 521 NHL games Nilson has scored 67 goals and 101 assists for 168 points with 270 penalty minutes and a +5 rating.
Last year, Marcus played for Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League appearing in 53 games, netting 24 goals and 24 assists for 51 points. He also played for Sweden in the World Championships for the second year in a row where he only notched a goal and an assist in the nine game tournament.
The 1st round (20th overall) draft pick of the Florida Panthers in 1996 began with Djurdarden in the Swe. Jr. League in 1994-95, and in his first two years notched 51 points in 49 games with the team. He made the move up to Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite for the next three years consecutive. His time between 1998 and 2008 was primarily in the NHL, though during the lockout Nilson went back to Djurgarden and posted 39 points in 48 games. In 2008, Nilson signed for Yaroslavl of the KHL where he underperformed, and subsequently returned to his favored Djurgarden team he has had so much success with.
Nilson loves his country and has appeared in the World Junior Championships three times, the World Championships four times, and once in the World Cup.
Though he is a competitor, he seems to have lost his step in the NHL. Not having played a National Hockey League game since the 2007-08 season put a world of pressure on the Swede to make this Devils roster, but not having been successful will put him back in the country in which he loves so much, which isn’t entirely bad for the man.
- Kendall Grubbs
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