Daniel Zaar

Daniel Zaar
Zaar after winning the 2016 Calder Cup Finals with the Monsters
Born (1994-04-24) 24 April 1994 (age 30)
Helsingborg, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 179 lb (81 kg; 12 st 11 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Right
SHL team
Former teams		 Rögle BK
Luleå HF
Malmö Redhawks
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
NHL draft 152nd overall, 2012
Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career 2012–present

Daniel Zaar (born 24 April 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger currently playing with Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Zaar was drafted in the sixth round, 152nd overall, in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playing career

Zaar scored his first Elitserien goal with Rögle BK on 11 October 2012, against Bernhard Starkbaum of Modo Hockey.[1] On 30 May 2014, Zaar signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Blue Jackets.[2] The following 2014–15 season, he remained in Sweden on loan from the Blue Jackets, transferring to Luleå HF. With his new team he won the 2014–15 Champions Hockey League.[3]

In his first season in North America in 2015–16, Zaar was assigned to the American Hockey League and played a pivotal role in helping the Lake Erie Monsters win their first Calder Cup championship in franchise history.[4] He was amongst the scoring lines with the Monsters, contributing with 21 goals in 71 games in the regular season before notching 7 goals and 12 points in 17 games en route to the Championship.

In the 2016–17 season, Zaar remained with the rebranded Cleveland Monsters. Limited to 55 games, Zaar was unable to build upon his rookie North American season in collecting 8 goals and 30 points.

As an impending restricted free agent, Zaar opted to continue his career in his native homeland in securing a two-year contract to return to the SHL with the Malmö Redhawks on 7 May 2017.[5] In the 2017–18 season, Zaar in a top 6 scoring role contributed with 9 goals and 26 points in 50 games for the Redhawks. He registered only 2 assists in 10 post-season games.

On 26 April 2018, Zaar secured a release from the final year of his contract with the Redhawks in order to return to original club, Rögle BK, on a one-year contract.[6]

Following his third season with Rögle BK, helping the club establish itself as a contending club in advancing to the Le Mat Trophy finals, Zaar left as a free agent and signed a lucrative two-year contract with Russian based club, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), on 11 June 2021.[7] In the 2021–22 season, Zaar was limited to just 4 goals and 14 points through 28 regular season games. Unable to help Torpedo qualify for the playoffs for the first time in nine years, Zaar extended his season by returning to original club, Rögle BK, on 15 February 2022.[8] Two weeks later, Zaar helped his new team win the 2021-22 Champions Hockey League, scoring both goals in the final against Tappara.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 Rögle BK J20 26 3 3 6 14 3 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Rögle BK J20 44 14 24 38 28 7 5 3 8 8
2012–13 Rögle BK J20 17 11 8 19 6 1 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Rögle BK SHL 25 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
2012–13 BIK Karlskoga Allsv 15 0 7 7 4 6 2 1 3 0
2013–14 Rögle BK Allsv 52 16 20 36 28 16 6 16 22 16
2014–15 Luleå HF SHL 55 9 18 27 18 9 2 2 4 6
2015–16 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 71 21 22 43 22 17 7 5 12 4
2016–17 Cleveland Monsters AHL 55 8 22 30 24 — — — — —
2017–18 Malmö Redhawks SHL 50 9 17 26 6 10 0 2 2 2
2018–19 Rögle BK SHL 50 13 22 35 16 2 1 1 2 12
2019–20 Rögle BK SHL 48 16 21 37 14 — — — — —
2020–21 Rögle BK SHL 52 18 32 50 22 11 4 4 8 0
2021–22 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 28 4 10 14 10 — — — — —
2021–22 Rögle BK SHL 16 3 12 15 4 13 4 7 11 2
SHL totals 296 70 123 193 80 52 12 16 28 24

Awards and honors

Awards Year
Champions Hockey League
Champions Hockey League (Luleå) 2015 [3]
Champions Hockey League (Rögle) 2022 [9]
AHL
Calder Cup (Lake Erie Monsters) 2016 [10]

References

  1. ^ "Elitserien - 2012-13, Rögle BK - Modo Hockey". hockeyligaen.se. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Zaar Signs Entry Deal". Columbus Dispatch. 30 May 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Luleå Hockey Champions Hockey League Winners 2015 Europamästare | HockeyGods". hockeygods.com. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Monsters bring Calder Cup back to Cleveland". American Hockey League. 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Daniel Zaar signs for the Redhawks" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Daniel Zaar signs for Rögle" (in Swedish). Rögle BK. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Second leading SHL scorer Zaar to strengthen Torpedo" (in Russian). Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. 11 June 2021. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Zaar returns" (in Swedish). Rögle BK. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  9. ^ a b "IIHF - Zaar's goals give Rogle CHL title". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  10. ^ Brown, Tony (12 June 2016). "Bjorkstrand's OT goal clinches Monsters' first-ever Calder Cup championship". Columbus Blue Jackets. Retrieved 12 June 2016.