With the offseason in full swing and many, but not all, free agents off the board, all hockey fans, us included, can’t wait for October. Here at Last Word on Hockey, we have been exploring some different “bests” during the long, hot days of summer. Best players by number for a few teams, top Canadians by position, and top first-round draft picks are some of the select rankings our writers have been exploring. As an ode to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, here for the Ottawa Senators, we are looking at the all-time starting lineups based on nationality. Other teams have started this series as well, such as the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Ottawa Senators All-Time Best Swedish Players
A few parameters to this list to get us started. This will be a starting lineup, so two wingers, one centre, two defencemen, and a goalie. The player must have played in the NHL with the Senators (so not considering prospects). Also, we only considered players since the 1992 reincarnation of the franchise. The assessment comes from the players best performance with, and impact on, the Senators. Hence, not a player’s career if he played with other teams. We have already completed the Russian and American teams and now we continue our series. So, let’s get down to business and the all-time Ottawa Senators best Swedish players as a starting lineup.
| W | C | W |
| Daniel Alfredsson | Mika Zibanejad | Magnus Arvedson |
| D | D | |
| Erik Brannstrom | Erik Karlsson | |
| G | ||
| Robin Lehner |
The Best Among Ottawa Senators Swedish Players Daniel Alfredsson
No one epitomizes and embodies the Ottawa Senators franchise like ‘Alfie.’ It just so happens for the purpose of our list, that he’s a representative of the Tre Krona. Right from the get-go, Alfredsson made his mark in the capital of Canada, and around the NHL really. He captured the 1996 Calder Trophy as league’s top rookie. That season all he did was score 26 goals and had 61 points in 82 games played. In addition, he was still getting it done some 17 years later at the age of 40. In the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, his last as a Senator, and second last as an NHLer, he still had a respectable 26 points in 47 games. Also, he took home the honours of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. We’ve only talked about two seasons for Alfie here, so we conceivably could go on for a while.
A few more stats on Daniel Alfredsson, as he was a two-time, 40-goal scorer with the Sens. However, he did it when he was 33 and 35, just remarkable consistency and durability. Like others mentioned below, he was apart of important post-season runs. This includes the ’07 cup final run, where he led the entire playoffs with 14 goals and 22 points. His contributions playing on an infamous line with a couple Canadians, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, seem to extend the peak performing years of Alfredsson’s career. When you add it up, Alfie played 1178 regular season contests with the Sens over 17 NHL seasons. Check out these franchise leads, with second place in parenthesis. 426 Goals (Spezza 251), 682 assists (Spezza 436), 131 power play goals (Spezza 90), 69 game-winning goals (Spezza 36), shall we go on?
Mika Zibanejad
Mika Zibanejad is an interesting figure. Here, he finds his way on the best Swedish players starting lineup for the Ottawa Senators franchise. Moreover, he was young when he was a member of the Ottawa Senators. It was at the point of his career before it really took off, but the talent was obvious. However, when you consider the Swedish centremen, his back-to-back 20-goal seasons in his early 20s, are strong enough to give him the nod.
Zibanejad would play parts of five seasons with the Sens. He had 151 points through 281 games played. He also had modest success in the post-season, recording eight points in 16 games over the course of two playoffs. He would go onto sign with the New York Rangers prior to the 2016-17 season where all he’s done is had a 0.93 points-per-game in eight seasons. But it all started in Ottawa, and he leads the list of Swedish centres to lace them up for the Senators.
Magnus Arvedson
Next up is where we started to run into some competition up front, but taking the cake was Magnus Arvedson. His length-of-stay, combined with a bit of productivity, and involvement in memorable playoff runs give him the edge. He played six seasons in Ottawa, racking up 92 goals and 118 assists for 210 points through 393 games. In addition, he appeared in 52 playoff games, appearing in the post-season in each of his six seasons with the club. He was always a dependable depth forward in the Sens lineup. For all these reasons, he makes the Ottawa Senators best Swedish starting lineup on the wing.
Erik Brannstrom
We move on to the recently departed Sen, Erik Brannstrom. And when your nickname is the ‘Branchise,’ your impact on the club is assumed. Brannstrom originally came over as the centrepiece with lofty expectations in the Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights deal. The Sens always regarded Brannstrom highly, but whether it was a lack of production or opportunity, his time in Ottawa always left us wanting more. Still, he played in parts of six seasons, good for 266 games with the club. For the reasons of amount of game action, as well as the impact of being involving in one of the franchises’ bigger trades, he makes our lineup for Team Sweden in a Sens uniform.
Erik Karlsson
Erik Karlsson is the most skilled defenceman to have played for the Ottawa Senators franchise. Only really Zdeno Chara can challenge Karlsson for the title of best ever defenceman, but given their actual performances as a member of the Senators, Karlsson takes the crown.
Karlsson is a three-time winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy, and twice (2012 and 2015), did so as a member of the Ottawa Senators. For most points in a season by a Senator defenceman, Karlsson has the top-five seasons. That includes the club record for most goals (21 in 2014-15) and assists (66 in 2015-16) by a defenceman. He totaled 518 career points in 627 games for the Sens. Also, a remarkable stat, is that he averaged almost 26 minutes (25:58) a game, during his time in Ottawa.
His playoff record was outstanding as well. He ended up with 37 points in 48 post-season contests. Moreover, this included the 2017 Eastern Conference Final run, where he had 18 points in 19 games, leading the charge for the Sens from the backend. Karlsson was one, if not the, most talented player to ever suit up in a Sens sweater, and for this, easy finds his way on Team Sweden’s blueline.
Robin Lehner
Like others throughout our series, Lehner never really hit his stride as an Ottawa Senator. However, he did show of glimpses of what could’ve been. In 2013-14 for the Sens, in 36 games, his record, 12-15-6, left some to be desired, but his .913 SV% was very nice. That kind of summed up his tenure with the Sens. He went only 30-36-13, but with a .914 SV% and a 2.88 GAA. He left after the 2014-15 season, and was only 24 at the time. It’s tough to speculate what could have been for Lehner and the Sens, had they stuck it out with each other for longer. But the two-time Jennings Trophy contributor had undeniable talent, and it all began in Ottawa. Moreover, he earns his spot at the best Swedish goalie to have played for Ottawa.
The Honourable Mentions of the Best Swedish Players in Ottawa Senators History
Without reading our list of best lineup of Ottawa Senators Swedish players, you might think the Sens had more Swedes lace them up over the years. However, the aspect of the Swedish players was their impact, quality over quantity. Even their current backup goalie heils from Sweden, Anton Forsberg. Guys like Alfredsson and Karlsson were stars for the franchise over such an incredible span. So, to prove the quality aspect, we leave with our one true honourable mention, Andreas Dackell. He would’ve been a name to compete with Arvedson for our lineup, but again, the quality has been as fine as aged wine when the Sens scouts have scoured the sweet Vineyards of Stockholm and its surroundings. In any sense, stay tuned for the rest of our series, some big ones left including Canada and those representing the former Czechoslovakia.
Main photo: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
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