Given how rocky his time with the Hamilton Bulldogs was, it should come as no surprise that Magnus Nygren has decided to go back to playing in Sweden. On Friday, the 24 year old blueliner inked a four year deal with Farjestad of the SHL, a team he has already spent parts of five seasons with.
Nygren got off to a strong start with the Bulldogs last season, collecting ten points in fifteen games while showing considerable improvement defensively. However, he wound up suffering a concussion that cost him the rest of the season. According to reports from last year, Nygren was on the verge of being recalled to the big club to try to help the ailing power play before he got hurt.
His rookie season in 2013-14 wasn’t all that successful either. He wound up getting homesick and leaving to return to Farjestad early on after playing just sixteen games with the Bulldogs. In his two seasons with Hamilton, he wound up with five goals and thirteen assists in 31 contests but with Farjestad, he has had much more success, collecting 36 goals and 49 assists in 157 games.
The Habs can retain Nygren’s NHL rights by issuing him a qualifying offer next month as they’ve done in recent years with Andreas Engqvist and Joonas Nattinen. Even though Nygren will be 25 this offseason with no NHL experience, he should not be eligible for Group VI free agency having played only two professional years while under contract to the Canadiens; the minimum number of ‘pro’ years to get VI status is three and seasons spent overseas only count if the player played there while under contract to an NHL team.
Nygren’s Stats:
