Magnus Hellberg
Hellberg with the Detroit Red Wings in 2023.
Born (1991-04-04) 4 April 1991
Uppsala, Sweden
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg; 14 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Former teams		 Pittsburgh Penguins
WBS Penguins (AHL)
Frölunda HC
Nashville Predators
New York Rangers
Kunlun Red Star
SKA Saint Petersburg
HC Sochi
Detroit Red Wings
Ottawa Senators
National team  Sweden
NHL Draft 38th overall, 2011
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2009–present

Magnus Hellberg (born 4 April 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played in the NHL for the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and the Detroit Red Wings.

Playing career

Hellberg was selected 38th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and was the first goaltender selected in the draft. Hellberg almost did not make the trip from Sweden to St. Paul, Minnesota, for the draft, citing it was "50-50" that he'd even be drafted. Because of the last-minute decision to come, the only person with him was his agent.[1] He was the first player to wear the new, redesigned Nashville jersey. The team still had not unveiled the home gold version, and the road white debuted at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Additionally, the Predators did not have a first-round pick, giving Hellberg the honor of becoming the first player to wear it.[2]

Hellberg with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2013

During the 2012–13 season, Hellberg appeared in 39 regular season games with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) and two games with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.[3] He added four more games with Milwaukee during AHL post-season. Hellberg was recalled by Nashville on 24 October 2013 after Pekka Rinne suffered an injury.[4] On 26 October, Hellberg made his NHL debut with the Predators, playing 12 minutes after replacing starter Carter Hutton in a game against the St. Louis Blues.[5][6] After being returned to Milwaukee, Hellberg suffered a high ankle sprain when his skate caught under a goal post which caused him to miss three months.[7] With the Predators system crowded at both NHL and AHL levels, he was assigned to ECHL affiliate, the Cyclones, to finish the 2013–14 season.[8] He played the entire 2014–15 season with Milwaukee, representing the team at the AHL All-Star Game.[9]

On 1 July 2015, Hellberg was traded to the New York Rangers for a 6th-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[10] Hellberg was assigned to the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, upon his arrival in New York but was called up on 18 December[11] to serve as a backup to Henrik Lundqvist while Antti Raanta was recovering from a head injury. Hellberg made his Rangers debut in a 20 December game against the Washington Capitals after Lundqvist allowed five goals, including four in the second period; Hellberg allowed two goals in the third period as the Rangers eventually lost the game 7–3.[12][lower-alpha 1] After Raanta was cleared to return, Hellberg was sent back down to the Wolf Pack in late December.[11]

Hellberg was called up to the NHL three times during the 2016–17 season; the first call-up came on 15 January 2017 after Raanta suffered a lower-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens. As a result, Hellberg was called up to the NHL to back up Lundqvist for one week while Raanta recovered.[13] Hellberg took the ice once as he replaced Lundqvist during the third period of the Rangers 17 January game against the Dallas Stars; the Rangers lost the game 7–6 despite rallying from a 7–3 deficit.[14] He was called up again in March after Lundqvist suffered a hip injury. He served as Raanta's backup for five games but did not see any ice time.[15] Hellberg was called up a third time for a season-ending back-to-back set of games after Raanta suffered another lower-body injury.[16] Hellberg sat on the bench as Lundqvist's backup in the first game (a 3–1 loss to the Ottawa Senators), but Hellberg made his first NHL start in the second game (Rangers' season finale) against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He stopped 22 of 24 shots as the Rangers won the game 3–2.[17]

As an impending free agent, Hellberg left the NHL and signed a one-year contract to be the starting goaltender of Chinese club, Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), on 25 May 2017.[18] In the 2017–18 season, despite registering just 16 wins in 51 games, Hellberg was a standout for the underperforming Kunlun, posting a .926 save percentage. Having earlier signed a one-year extension with Kunlun during the season, Hellberg was traded the following off-season by the Red Star to perennial contending club, SKA Saint Petersburg, in exchange for financial compensation on 28 May 2018.[19]

After three stellar seasons with SKA Saint Petersburg, Hellberg left the club at the conclusion of his contract and opted to continue in the KHL by agreeing to a one-year deal with HC Sochi on 15 June 2021.[20] In the 2021–22 season, posted a respectable 2.42 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage for five shutouts in 37 games with Sochi. Unable to help Sochi qualify for the post-season, Hellberg signed a one-year contract in a return to the NHL for the remainder of the Detroit Red Wings' season on 13 April 2022.[21] He made one appearance, starting Detroit's season finale on 29 April, a 5–3 win over the New Jersey Devils.[22]

Hellberg with the Seattle Kraken in 2022.

On 13 July 2022, Hellberg left the Red Wings as a free agent and was signed to a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Seattle Kraken.[23] After attending the Kraken's 2022 training camp, Hellberg was placed on waivers during the pre-season to be re-assigned to the AHL. On 3 October 2022, Hellberg was claimed off waivers by the Ottawa Senators following an injury to starting goaltender Cam Talbot.[24] On 10 November, after one appearance with Ottawa, Hellberg was placed on waivers by the Senators and was re-claimed by Seattle.[25]

Hellberg served as the backup to Martin Jones through several games with the Kraken before he was placed on waivers after the return to health of goaltender Philipp Grubauer on 22 November. Without featuring for the Kraken, Hellberg was claimed off waivers by former club, the Detroit Red Wings, on 23 November 2022.[26] On 28 December 2022, Hellberg came into the game as relief for starter Ville Husso after Husso gave up four goals in the first period to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Red Wings scored four unanswered goals to force overtime and went on to win 5-4, with Hellberg making 19 saves.[27]

Leaving the Red Wings as a free agent for the second successive season, Hellberg continued in North America, agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2023–24 season on 2 July 2023.[28] He was placed on waivers by Pittsburgh on October 8, 2023[29] and after going unclaimed, was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to start the 2023–24 season.[30] After an injury to goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic early in the season, Hellberg was called up to the NHL by the Penguins.[31] Upon Nedeljkovic's return, Hellberg was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre on 19 November.[32]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2010–11 Almtuna IS Allsv 31 — — — 1790 61 5 2.04 .935 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Frölunda HC SHL 17 — — — 1016 42 2 2.48 .908 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Örebro HK Allsv 1 1 0 0 61 2 0 1.98 .923 2 — — — — — 4.04 .884
2012–13 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 39 22 13 0 2107 75 6 2.14 .924 4 1 3 248 7 1 1.69 .944
2012–13 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 2 1 1 0 119 5 0 2.52 .923 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 21 5 13 1 1168 55 1 2.82 .911 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Nashville Predators NHL 1 0 0 0 12 1 0 5.00 .750 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 7 5 1 1 394 19 0 2.89 .901 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 38 15 10 6 2007 78 3 2.33 .913 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 53 30 20 3 3098 124 3 2.40 .918 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 20 2 0 6.00 .667 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 36 12 15 5 1990 98 1 2.95 .903 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 New York Rangers NHL 2 1 0 0 79 2 0 1.52 .929 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Kunlun Red Star KHL 51 16 26 3 2761 110 6 2.39 .926 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 34 24 7 3 2048 45 8 1.32 .940 10 7 2 571 16 1 1.68 .919
2019–20 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 26 14 7 3 1443 41 3 1.70 .927 2 2 0 173 2 1 0.69 .977
2020–21 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 21 14 4 1 1172 37 2 1.89 .930 10 7 2 591 13 2 1.32 .943
2021–22 HC Sochi KHL 37 13 20 4 2134 86 5 2.42 .917 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 1 0 0 60 3 0 3.00 .870 — — — — — — — —
2022–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 1 1 0 0 60 2 0 2.00 .935 — — — — — — — —
2022–23 Detroit Red Wings NHL 17 4 8 1 876 48 0 3.29 .885 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 23 7 8 1 1,107 10 0 3.14 .886 — — — — — — — —
KHL totals 169 81 64 14 9,558 319 24 2.00 .927 22 16 4 1,335 31 4 1.39 .940
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Sweden
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Denmark

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2018 Sweden WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 3 0 0 184 5 1 1.63 .938
2022 Sweden OG 4th 2 1 1 0 122 5 0 2.46 .927
2022 Sweden WC 6th 4 4 0 0 245 6 1 1.47 .932
Senior totals 9 8 1 0 551 16 2 1.74 .933

Awards and honours

Award Year
J20 Elit
East Best GAA (1.97) 2010
East Best SVS% (.929) 2010
AHL
All-Star Game 2015

Notes

  1. ↑ The source states that this was Hellberg's NHL debut, which is incorrect. This was his season and Rangers debut.

References

  1. ↑ Gover, Jeremy K. (25 June 2011). "Live From the NHL Draft: Preds 1st pick Magnus Hellberg speaks…". section303.com.
  2. ↑ Gover, Jeremy K. (25 June 2011). "Live From the NHL Draft: Preds runner Nik debuts new jersey…". section303.com.
  3. ↑ "Five debut give ECHL 520 players to reach NHL". ECHL. 26 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Boehler, Dave (24 October 2023). "Hellberg headed to Nashville". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  5. ↑ Korac, Louie (26 October 2013). "Steen's pair leads Blues past Predators". Nashville Predators. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Steen's 2 goals lead Blues over Predators 6-1". ESPN. Associated Press. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  7. ↑ Moore, Lauren (11 July 2014). "Predators goalie Magnus Hellberg needs to regain form". The Tennessean. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Hellberg Heads to Cincinnati" (Press release). Milwaukee Admirals. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2023 – via oursportscentral.com.
  9. ↑ "Rangers Acquire Goaltender Magnus Hellberg". National Hockey League. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  10. ↑ McKenna, Ryan (1 July 2015). "Rangers acquire Magnus Hellberg from Predators". Sportsnet. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. 1 2 "New York Rangers Transactions 2015". ESPN. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Capitals close with 6 straight goals, beat Rangers 7-3". ESPN. Associated Press. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "Backup goalie Raanta expected to miss 7-10 days". Sports Illustrated. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  14. ↑ "Sharp scores twice, Stars hold on for 7-6 win over Rangers". ESPN. Associated Press. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  15. ↑ "Rangers' Magnus Hellberg: Back in AHL". CBS Sports. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "Rangers' Antti Raanta: Won't start due to injury". CBS Sports. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "Magnus Hellberg of Rangers gets first NHL win". National Hockey League. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  18. ↑ "HC Kunlun reach agreement with Magnus Hellberg". rsport.ru (in Russian). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "Magnus Hellberg traded to SKA" (in Russian). SKA Saint Petersburg. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Magnus Hellberg is in Sochi" (in Russian). HC Sochi. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Red Wings sign Goaltender Magnus Hellberg". Detroit Red Wings. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  22. ↑ Khan, Ansar (29 April 2022). "Magnus Hellberg wins Red Wings debut in season finale". mlive.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  23. ↑ "Kraken ink three". American Hockey League. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "Sens claim Hellberg; Talbot out 5-7 weeks". TSN. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  25. ↑ "Kraken claim G Hellberg off waivers from Sens; Zaitsev, Reilly clear". TSN.ca. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "Red Wings claim Magnus Hellberg off waivers from Kraken". TSN. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "Walman scores in OT to lift Red Wings past Penguins, 5-4". ESPN. Associated Press. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  28. ↑ "Penguins sign three players". Pittsburgh Penguins. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  29. ↑ "Penguins' Magnus Hellberg: Lands on waivers". CBS Sports. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  30. ↑ "Penguins Finalize Roster for the 2023-24 Season". Pittsburgh Penguins. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  31. ↑ RotoWire Staff (25 October 2023). "Penguins' Magnus Hellberg: Recalled from AHL". CBS Sports. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  32. ↑ "Penguins' Magnus Hellberg: Assigned to AHL". CBS Sports. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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