Mattias Bäckman
Born (1992-10-03) October 3, 1992
Linköping, Sweden
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL Draft 145th overall, 2011
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 2010present

Mattias Jonas Bäckman (born October 3, 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman. Bäckman was drafted 145th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Swedish Hockey League

During the 2008–09 season, Bäckman debuted in Sweden’s SuperElit junior league with the Linköpings' J20 club, appearing in a pair of games without registering a point.

During the 2009–10 season, Bäckman spent the majority of the season with Linköpings J20, recording four goals and assists in 33 games in the regular season before adding one goal in six games in the playoffs. Bäckman also played in 5 contests with the big club in the Elitserien without registering a point.

During the 2010–11 season, Bäckman appeared in six Elitserien games with Linköpings and two games on loan to First Division team Mjolby. Bäckman scored one goal and two assists for Mjolby. Bäckman recorded two goals and 18 assists in 27 games with Linkopings U20 team and added 2 assists in three playoff games.[1]

During the 2011–12 season, Bäckman skated in 42 games for Linköpings as a 19-year-old in his first professional season in Sweden's Elitserien. Bäckman recorded one goal and seven assists. Backman skated with Linkopings U20 team in six regular season games and was plus-two with one goal and one assist. Bäckman was with the U20 team during the run to the SuperElit finals after Linkopings' tenth-place men's team did not make the playoffs and was the team's second-leading scorer with two goals and six assists in six games.

During the 2012–13 season, Bäckman appeared in 52 games in his second season with Linköpings, where he recorded two goals and 24 assists. Linköpings finished fifth in the Elitserien and lost to league champion Skelleftea in the playoff semifinals. Backman recorded two goals and assists in 10 playoff games. Bäckman played five games for Sweden in the European Trophy tournament with no points nor penalty minutes.[2]

During the 2013–14 season, Bäckman appeared in a career-high 54 games, where he recorded six goals and 15 assists during his third and final SEL season. During the playoffs, Bäckman helped Linköpings reach the semifinals, recording seven assists in 13 games.[3]

North America

On May 21, 2013, Bäckman signed a three year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.[4]

After Linköpings were eliminated from the playoffs, Bäckman was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, and made his American Hockey League (AHL) debut on April 18, 2014, in a game against the Lake Erie Monsters.[5] During the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs, Bäckman recorded one goal and five assists in 10 playoff games.

Bäckman began the 2014–15 season with the Griffins. In 18 games he recorded four assists. On December 26, 2014, the Griffins reassigned Bäckman to Linköpings HC.[6] On March 1, 2015, the Detroit Red Wings traded Bäckman and Mattias Janmark-Nylén to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Erik Cole.[7]

In the 2016–17 season, in his final year under contract with the Stars and stationed in the AHL with Texas, Bäckman appeared in 41 games with 11 points before he was loaned by the Stars to the Hershey Bears in exchange for Darren Dietz on March 8, 2017.[8] He appeared in 5 games with the Bears before he was excluded from the post-season roster and left at the conclusion of the regular season.[9] As expected he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Stars at the conclusion of the season, releasing Bäckman to free agency.[10]

Return to Europe

On June 30, 2017, Bäckman signed a one-year contract with EHC Kloten of the National League (NL).[11] After completing the 2017–18 season with Kloten, Bäckman returned to Sweden agreeing to terms with Linköpings on a multi-year contract on April 27, 2018.

In the midst of the 2021–22 season, his fourth successive season blighted through injury with Linköping, Bäckman announced he was taking a hiatus from professional hockey in order to regain his health on 7 December 2021.[12]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Calgary

Bäckman represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge. Bäckman recorded one assist and four penalty minutes for fifth-place Sweden at the WJAC. Bäckman later represented Sweden at the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he won a gold medal. In six games at the WJC, Bäckman recorded three assists.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeague GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
2009–10 Linköpings HC SEL 5 0 0 0 2
2010–11 Linköpings HC SEL 6 0 0 0 4
2011–12 Linköpings HC SEL 42 1 7 8 14
2012–13 Linköpings HC SEL 52 2 24 26 34 10 2 4 6 4
2013–14 Linköpings HC SHL 54 6 15 21 16 13 0 7 7 6
2013–14 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 2 0 0 0 0 10 1 5 6 2
2014–15 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 18 0 4 4 6
2014–15 Linköpings HC SHL 25 4 13 17 4 9 0 3 3 6
2014–15 Texas Stars AHL 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0
2015–16 Texas Stars AHL 69 8 24 32 34 4 0 2 2 4
2016–17 Texas Stars AHL 41 3 8 11 24
2016–17 Hershey Bears AHL 5 1 1 2 2
2017–18 EHC Kloten NL 41 3 9 12 14
2018–19 Linköpings HC SHL 18 2 5 7 8
2019–20 Linköping HC SHL 1 0 0 0 0
2020–21 Linköping HC SHL 17 1 8 9 4
2021–22 Linköping HC SHL 3 0 1 1 6
SHL totals 223 16 73 89 92 32 2 14 16 16
AHL totals 136 12 37 49 66 16 1 8 9 6

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Sweden WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 0 3 3 4
Junior totals 6 0 3 3 4

References

  1. "Linkoping HC's 2010-11 Roster". hockeydb.com. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  2. "Mattias Backman prospect profile". hockeysfuture.com. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  3. "Wings in Waiting: Mattias Backman". Detroit Red Wings. July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  4. "Another setback forces Helm off the ice". Detroit Red Wings. May 21, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  5. "Athanasiou, Backman and Janmark to Grand Rapids". Grand Rapids Griffins. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  6. "McCollum to Griffins, Backman to Linkopings HC". Grand Rapids Griffins. December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  7. "Red Wings acquire Erik Cole from Dallas". Detroit Red Wings. March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  8. "Backman joins Hershey in deal with Stars". Hershey Bears. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  9. "Stephenson recalled by Washington, Backman leaves Hershey". chocolatehockey.com. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  10. "Dallas Stars announce Qualifying offers". Dallas Stars. 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  11. "EHC Kloten signs its second Swedish import for next season". swisshockeynews.ch. 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  12. "Mattias Bäckman pauses his hockey career" (in Swedish). Linköping HC. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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