Joakim Lindström Explained

Birth Date:5 December 1983
Birth Place:Skellefteå, Sweden
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:203
Position:Winger
Shoots:Left
Played For:Modo Hockey
Columbus Blue Jackets
Phoenix Coyotes
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Skellefteå AIK
Colorado Avalanche
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
SKA Saint Petersburg
Ntl Team:SWE
Draft:41st overall
Draft Year:2002
Draft Team:Columbus Blue Jackets
Career Start:2001
Career End:2023

Joakim Claes Lindström (born 5 December 1983) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger who last played for Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League.[1] Lindström previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and, most recently, for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was drafted in the second round, 41st overall, by Columbus in 2002.

Playing career

Lindström came through the youth ranks of Skellefteå AIK, before joining the Modo Hockey youth program. He logged his first minutes in the country's top-flight Swedish Hockey League for Modo during the 2000-01 season.

He was drafted 41st overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. After spending five years in the Elitserien with Modo, Lindström made his North American debut with the latter stages of the 2004–05 season with the Syracuse Crunch, the top minor league affiliate of the Blue Jackets in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Lindström made his NHL debut the following season, 2005–06, with the Blue Jackets and played in a further 37 games with Columbus before he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional draft pick on 15 July 2008.On 3 October 2008, Lindström was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks,[2] but was consequently re-claimed back by the Ducks on 7 October 2008. He was then assigned to the Ducks' top affiliate, the Iowa Chops, of the AHL.[3]

On 3 December 2008, the Ducks traded Lindström to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Logan Stephenson.[4] Lindström was recalled by Phoenix on 8 December 2008,[5] and made his Coyotes debut in a 5–3 win over the Dallas Stars on 10 December 2008.[6]

Lindström was not re-signed by the Coyotes at season's end, and on 13 July 2009, he left North America and signed a one-year contract with Russian team Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[7] In the 2009–10 season, he led the club with 20 assists and scored 30 points, though Torpedo failed to qualify for the post-season.

On 18 May 2010, Lindström returned to the Elitserien, signing with Skellefteå AIK for the 2010–11 season.[8] In 54 games, he scored 60 points to lead the League in scoring as AIK finished as silver medalists in the playoffs. He was also selected to the Elitserien All-Star Team.

On 15 June 2011, Lindström signed a one-year contract to return to the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche.[9] On 29 November 2011, however, Lindström was waived by the Avalanche, whereupon he returned to Skellefteå AIK in Sweden.

On 28 May 2014, after helping Skellefteå to a second consecutive title and being selected as the Swedish Hockey League's MVP, Lindström signed a one-year free agent contract with the St. Louis Blues, marking a third attempt to establish himself within the NHL.[10] In the 2014–15 season, Lindström made the Blues' opening night roster, but was unable to secure a top six position on the Blues' scoring lines. Primarily used as a depth player, Lindström contributed with three goals in 34 games before on 2 March 2015, he was traded by the Blues to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with a conditional draft pick (Nicolas Mattinen), in exchange for Olli Jokinen.[11]

Lindström's stint in Toronto would be short, as he signed a one-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the KHL shortly after the regular season ended on 1 May 2015.[12] He left Saint Petersburg after the 2015–16 season and signed to return to Skellefteå AIK on 27 April 2016.[13]

International play

Lindström earned his first caps for Sweden during the 2009–10 season and played at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships.

During the 2017–18 season, with the exclusion of NHL contracted players, Lindström was selected to represent Sweden at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Used in a scoring role, he finished scoreless through 4 games in a fifth place finish.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1999–00Modo HockeyJ18 Allsv9 3 10 13 228 3 4 7 10
1999–00Modo Hockey J2010 4 4 8 2
2000–01Modo Hockey J18 Allsv2 1 2 3 164 2 3 5 24
2000–01Modo Hockey J208 6 10 16 162 0 2 2 14
2000–01Modo HockeySEL10 2 3 5 27 0 1 1 0
2001–02Modo Hockey J2010 9 6 15 67
2001–02Modo HockeySEL42 4 3 7 2014 3 5 8 8
2001–02IF Troja/LjungbyAllsv3 0 0 0 12
2002–03Modo Hockey J202 5 1 6 8
2002–03Modo HockeySEL29 4 2 6 146 1 1 2 2
2002–03Örnsköldsviks SKAllsv2 1 1 2 4
2003–04IF Sundsvall HockeyAllsv2 0 5 5 0
2003–04Modo HockeySEL15 0 2 2 0
2004–05Modo Hockey J202 4 1 5 0
2004–05Modo HockeySEL37 2 3 5 24
2004–05Syracuse CrunchAHL13 4 4 8 0
2005–06Syracuse CrunchAHL64 14 29 43 526 1 1 2 0
2005–06Columbus Blue JacketsNHL3 0 0 0 0
2006–07Syracuse CrunchAHL50 22 26 48 34
2006–07Columbus Blue JacketsNHL9 1 0 1 4
2007–08Syracuse CrunchAHL49 25 35 60 6813 4 3 7 6
2007–08Columbus Blue JacketsNHL25 3 4 7 14
2008–09Iowa ChopsAHL21 7 14 21 33
2008–09San Antonio RampageAHL3 1 1 2 2
2008–09Phoenix CoyotesNHL44 9 11 20 28
2009–10Torpedo Nizhny NovgorodKHL55 10 20 30 62
2010–11Skellefteå AIKSEL54 28 32 60 13418 4 7 11 16
2011–12Colorado AvalancheNHL16 2 3 5 0
2011–12Skellefteå AIKSEL21 7 13 20 4519 5 12 17 22
2012–13Skellefteå AIKSEL53 18 36 54 5613 4 7 11 4
2013–14Skellefteå AIKSHL55 23 40 63 7214 6 12 18 10
2014–15St. Louis BluesNHL34 3 3 6 8
2014–15Toronto Maple LeafsNHL19 1 3 4 4
2015–16SKA Saint PetersburgKHL47 8 13 21 2413 0 2 2 10
2016–17Skellefteå AIKSHL51 18 36 54 327 2 2 4 4
2017–18Skellefteå AIKSHL46 16 34 50 6312 3 4 7 29
2018–19Skellefteå AIKSHL48 18 24 42 206 3 2 5 0
2019–20Skellefteå AIKSHL47 16 23 39 45
2020–21Skellefteå AIKSHL52 12 33 45 4212 4 6 10 35
2021–22Skellefteå AIKSHL52 11 26 37 166 4 1 5 4
2022–23Skellefteå AIKSHL47 12 16 28 1815 2 4 6 12
SHL totals659 191 326 517 611149 41 64 105 146
NHL totals150 19 24 43 58

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2001SwedenWJC187th62572
2003SwedenWJC8th62356
2014SwedenWC956114
2015SwedenWC5th82352
2018SwedenOG5th40000
Junior totals1248128
Senior totals2179166

Awards and honours

AwardYear
AHL
All-Star Game2008
SHL
All-Star Team2011
Guldhjälmen (MVP)2014, 2017, 2018
Forward of the Year2014, 2017
Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy2014
Le Mat Trophy (Skellefteå AIK)2013, 2014[14]
Guldpucken2014

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ikonen slutar med ishockeyn . 4 August 2023 .
  2. Web site: Blackhawks claim Lindstrom off waivers. blackhawks.nhl.com. 3 October 2008. 3 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081205235238/http://blackhawks.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=384714&page=NewsPage&service=page. 5 December 2008. dead.
  3. Web site: Ducks re-claim Lindstrom. ocregister.com. 7 October 2008. 3 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211055313/http://ducks.freedomblogging.com/2008/10/07/ducks-re-claim-lindstrom-on-waivers/. 11 December 2008. dead.
  4. Web site: Ducks acquire Logan Stephenson . ducks.nhl.com . 3 December 2008 . 3 December 2008.
  5. Web site: Coyotes recall Lindstrom from AHL. coyotes.nhl.com . 8 December 2008 . 14 December 2008.
  6. Web site: Coyotes 5, Stars 3. coyotes.nhl.com . 10 December 2008 . 14 December 2008.
  7. Web site: Lindstrom to the KHL . aftonbladet.se . 13 July 2009 . 13 July 2010 . Swedish .
  8. Web site: Joakim Lindström ready for AIK . . 18 May 2010 . 13 July 2010 . Swedish .
  9. Web site: Avalanche signs Joakim Lindstrom . . 15 June 2011 . 15 June 2011.
  10. Web site: Blues sign Lindstrom to one-year deal . St. Louis Blues. 28 May 2014 . 28 May 2014.
  11. Web site: Blues Acquire Jokinen from Toronto . . 2 March 2015 . 2 March 2015.
  12. Web site: Joakim Lindstrom and Jarno Koskiranta have signed with SKA . . 1 May 2015 . 1 May 2015.
  13. Web site: Möller och Lindström återvänder. Skellefteå AIK. 21 May 2016.
  14. Web site: Skellefteå AIK are the 2014 Swedish Champions . . 25 April 2014 . 25 April 2014 . Swedish.