Hurricanes Agree to Terms with Niklas Nordgren

[Thrillhouse]

RALEIGH, NC – Jason Karmanos, Vice President and Assistant General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that the Hurricanes have agreed to terms with left wing Niklas Nordgren (NIHK-las NORHD-grehn) on a one-year contract that will pay him $450,000 in the NHL or $50,000 in the American Hockey League. He also received a signing bonus of $25,000.

“Niklas had an excellent season in the Swedish Elite League playing with and against a number of NHL players,” said Karmanos. “He will attend training camp in Raleigh and, like every player in camp, be given a chance to make our team.”

Nordgren, 26, spent the 2004-05 season with Timra IK of the Swedish Elite League (SEL), finishing second behind league-leading teammate Henrik Zetterberg in scoring for Timra with 36 points (19g, 17a). Nordgren (5’11’’, 200 lbs) was tied for first on his team, and fifth in the SEL in goals (19). A native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, Nordgren tallied nine power-play goals and 71 penalty minutes for Timra in 2004-05, and had a plus/minus rating of plus-16. Timra, which included former Hurricane Kent Manderville along with current NHL players Zetterberg, Fredrik Modin, Jonathan Hedstrom, Aki Berg and Miikka Kiprusoff, finished third in the SEL.

Nordgren was Carolina’s seventh pick, 195th overall, in the eighth round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He has played his entire career in Sweden, tallying 121 points (60g, 61a) in 195 career games in the Swedish Elite League with Timra and Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik. His top scoring output came in the 2002-03 season, when he finished third in the SEL in scoring with 43 points (20g, 23a) in 47 games for Timra.

[Bear]

This took us by surprise. He'll probably start in Lowell but he'll be another guy for Brendl and Vrbata to watch out for...