StaTuesday: Wild's Niederreiter continues rise among all-time best Swiss NHLers

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At just 24 years old, Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter is already one of the most accomplished Swiss-born players in NHL history.

Following back-to-back 20-goal seasons Niederreiter has continued his rise, and finished the season with career highs in points (57), goals (25) and assists (32). He finished the season ranked third on the Wild in scoring.

It's the third 20-goal season of his six-year career. He's the only Swiss player to do it even once.

Including Niederreiter, hockey-reference.com lists 13 active Swiss NHL players and 30 all-time, including the nation's career leader in NHL scoring: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Mark Streit.






























































































































































































































































Player Years Pos GP G A PTS +/- City
Mark Streit 2006-17 D 784 96 338 434 -71 Bern
Nino Niederreiter 2011-17 RW 389 85 91 176 10 Chur
Roman Josi 2012-17 D 406 64 175 239 11 Bern
Mark Hardy 1980-94 D 915 62 306 368 -92 Samedan
Sven Baertschi 2012-17 LW 206 43 50 93 -25 Bern
Damien Brunner 2013-15 RW 121 25 33 58 -18 Oberlunkhofen
Yannick Weber 2009-17 D 347 23 55 78 -33 Morges
Sven Andrighetto 2015-17 RW 102 16 27 43 2 Zurich
Kevin Fiala 2015-17 LW 60 12 5 17 0 St. Gallen
Raphael Diaz 2012-15 D 201 8 41 49 -8 Baar


 

Erik Karlsson, he is not.

Streit has played in 784 games since entering the league in 2006, scoring 96 goals and racking up 434 points.

Niederreiter is already well on his way to overtaking him.

The 6-foot-2 right wing has scored 85 goals and 176 points since being drafted fifth overall in 2010.























































































































































































Season Age Tm GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG
2010-11 18 Islanders 9 1 1 2 -1 8 0
2011-12 19 Islanders 55 1 0 1 -29 12 0
2013-14 21 Wild 81 14 22 36 12 44 2
2014-15 22 Wild 80 24 13 37 2 28 6
2015-16 23 Wild 82 20 23 43 9 36 2
2016-17 24 Wild 82 25 32 57 17 53 8


 

After two seasons in the New York Islanders organization, during which he appeared in a meager 64 NHL games, Niederreiter was traded to the Wild at just 20 years old.

The price was relatively low for a player just three years removed from his draft year: A third-round pick and fan favorite Cal Clutterbuck, a hard-nosed winger and reliable depth scorer.

So far the Wild have emerged as the clear winners of the deal.