The most unheralded elite player in the NHL — 1,100+ points as Ovechkin's playmaker.
Nicklas Backstrom was born in Valbo, Sweden in 1987. Washington Capitals selected him fourth overall in the 2006 NHL Draft — the pick immediately after they selected Alexander Ovechkin in 2004. His career has produced 249 goals and 886 assists for 1,135 career points — the most by any Capitals player not named Ovechkin. He won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018. He was selected to five All-Star games. He is the primary playmaker who has created the majority of Ovechkin's goal-scoring opportunities for 15 seasons — his assist total reflects an unselfishness and distributional skill that has consistently placed him among the league's finest passers. He retired in 2023 due to a chronic hip condition that required surgery. His career is one of hockey's best examples of a first-line centre whose contributions are systematically undervalued because his linemate is the most dominant individual scorer of his era. Without Backstrom, the question of how many goals Ovechkin would score is genuinely unanswerable.
Stanley Cup (2018)
Career Honours
- Stanley Cup (2018)
- Olympic Gold Medal (Sweden 2006 via junior)
- All-Star 5x