Introduction
Magnus Hellberg (born April 4, 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Playing career
Magnus 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 didn't 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.
Technically, he was the first player to wear the new, redesigned Nashville jersey. The home gold version had still not been unveiled by the team 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.
During the 2012–13 season, Hellberg appeared in 39 regular season games with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League and two games with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. He added four more games with Milwaukee during AHL post-season.
On October 26, 2013, Hellberg made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators, playing 12 minutes after replacing starter Carter Hutton in a game against the St. Louis Blues. 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.
On July 1, 2015, Hellberg was traded to the New York Rangers for a 6th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Hellberg was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack upon his arrival in New York, but was called up on December 18 to serve as a backup to Henrik Lundqvist while Antti Raanta was recovering from a head injury. Hellberg took the ice in a December 20 game against the Washington Capitals after Lundqvist allowed 5 goals; The Rangers eventually lost the game 7-3. On December 30, Hellberg was sent back down to the Wolf Pack, after Raanta was cleared to return. On January 15th, 2017, Rangers backup Antti Raanta suffered a lower body injury against the Montreal Canadiens. As a result, Hellberg was called up to the NHL to back up the Rangers for about a week while Raanta recovered.
Career statistics
| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 5.59 | .700 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honours
- 2009–10 J20 Elit (East) Best GAA (1.97)
- 2009–10 J20 Elit (East) Best SVS% (.929)