Eric Martinsson

Eric Martinsson
Born (1992-10-22) October 22, 1992 (age 32)
Klippan, Sweden
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
SHL team
Former teams
Free Agent
Växjö Lakers
Genève-Servette HC
HV71
Barys Nur-Sultan
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2012–present

Eric Martinsson (born October 22, 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Playing career

Martinsson originally played as a youth with Rögle BK in the SuperElit before spending one North American junior season with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) in the 2012–13 season.[1]

After he was passed over in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Martinsson opted to return to Sweden to make his debut with Rögle BK in the Allsvenskan in the 2013–14 season.[2] He featured in 19 games for 3 assists, before breaking out offensively in the postseason qualifiers with 14 points in 16 games.

With Rögle BK confined to the second tier Allsvenskan, Martinsson signed an initial two-year contract with the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) on April 15, 2014.[3] Martinsson made his SHL debut playing with Lakers during the 2014–15 SHL season, and won a Le Mat Trophy.[4]

After helping the Växjö Lakers to a second Swedish championship in the 2017–18 season, Martinsson as a free agent, agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL) on May 2, 2018.[5] After attending the Wild's training camp, Martinsson was assigned to begin the 2018–19 season, with American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild. Martinsson produced 9 assists in 13 games before opting to mutually terminate his contract with the Wild, after being placed on unconditional waivers on November 28, 2018.[6]

On November 28, 2018, Martinsson joined Swiss club, Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL) for the remainder of the season on a one-year deal worth CHF 500,000. He was brought to the team as a replacement for injured Johan Fransson.[7] On January 6, 2019, Martinsson was hit from behind, falling head first into the boards, by Marc Wieser in a game against HC Davos. Martinsson left the game and went straight to the hospital in Davos, where he spent the night, before returning to Geneva the next day. He suffered a severe concussion which sidelined him for the next two months. Whereas Wieser was only fined CHF 5,100 and suspended for three games. Martinsson returned to Geneva's lineup with 10 games remaining in the regular season and was a healthy scratch for games 3 and 4 of the 2019 Quarterfinals against SC Bern. Martinsson displayed poor performances following his return and was not offered a contract extension by Geneva, making him a free agent.

On April 17, 2019, Martinsson returned to Sweden, agreeing to a three-year contract with HV71 of the SHL.[8]

Following the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, having regressed offensively with just 1 goal and 12 points through 44 games, Martinsson was mutually released from the remaining two years of his contract with HV71 on 15 March 2023.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Rögle BK J20 37 2 5 7 24 2 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Rögle BK J20 23 3 4 7 6 3 1 0 1 0
2011–12 Rögle BK J20 47 7 26 33 71 7 1 6 7 39
2011–12 Helsingborgs HC Div.1 7 1 3 4 27
2012–13 Des Moines Buccaneers USHL 59 7 26 33 66
2013–14 Rögle BK J20 5 1 1 2 4
2013–14 Rögle BK Allsv 19 0 3 3 10 16 4 10 14 14
2013–14 Helsingborgs HC Div.1 14 3 7 10 14
2014–15 Växjö Lakers SHL 47 1 3 4 14 15 0 2 2 10
2015–16 Växjö Lakers SHL 50 2 10 12 57 13 2 5 7 4
2016–17 Växjö Lakers SHL 41 4 11 15 30 6 0 2 2 0
2017–18 Växjö Lakers SHL 46 3 14 17 34 13 3 8 11 18
2018–19 Iowa Wild AHL 13 0 9 9 10
2018–19 Genève-Servette HC NL 19 1 4 5 2 4 0 0 0 0
2019–20 HV71 SHL 43 3 19 22 16
2020–21 HV71 SHL 51 5 32 37 34
2021–22 Barys Nur-Sultan KHL 38 0 11 11 26 5 0 0 0 2
2022–23 HV71 SHL 44 1 11 12 8
SHL totals 322 19 100 119 193 47 5 17 22 32

Awards and honors

Award Year
SHL
Le Mat Trophy (Växjö Lakers) 2015, 2018 [10]

References

  1. ^ "Martinsson ready for USHL" (in Swedish). gronvitasumo.se. August 12, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "Eric Martinsson returns to fold" (in Swedish). Rögle BK. July 10, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  3. ^ "Eric Martinsson signs for Lakers" (in Swedish). Växjö Lakers. April 15, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  4. ^ "Eric Martinsson". SHL.se (in Swedish). Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  5. ^ "Wild sign Swedish defenseman Eric Martinsson". Minnesota Wild. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Eric Martinsson: Waived unconditionally". CBSSports.com. November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  7. ^ "GSHC sign Eric Martinsson". swisshockeynews.ch. November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  8. ^ "Eric Martinsson new defenseman in HV71". HV71 (in Swedish). April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  9. ^ "Eric Martinsson leaves HV71" (in Swedish). HV71. March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  10. ^ "Lakers dominant in SHL title win". eurohockeyclubs.com. April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.