Mikael Wikstrand

Playing career

Wikstrand made his professional debut in 2010–11, appearing in 28 games for Mora IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan and recording one assist. The following season he played 47 games for Mora, earning 3 points. In the 2012 NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s final rankings he was placed 23rd among European skaters, and the Ottawa Senators chose him in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, 196th overall. During 2012–13 he played 45 games for Mora, accumulating 22 points; he tied for fifth among Allsvenskan defencemen in scoring and led all Mora defencemen in that category. At that time trade rumours linked him with Frölunda. In 2014 Wikstrand signed a three-year entry-level contract with Ottawa, attended the Senators’ training camp, but spent the season in Sweden on loan with Frölunda HC. He caused controversy when he left the Ottawa Senators’ 2015 pre-season camp without permission, informing team officials only after reaching the airport to return to Sweden. Senators general manager Bryan Murray announced that Wikstrand had been suspended by the team. Because he was under contract with the Senators, the NHL’s affiliation with the IIHF prevented him from playing professional hockey for Färjestad BK or any other IIHF-affiliated club. On 20 January 2016 the Senators announced an agreement allowing Wikstrand to play professionally in Sweden while retaining his North American rights; he was loaned to Färjestad of the SHL, enabling him to continue his career while remaining in Karlstad, where his brother was reportedly undergoing treatment for leukemia. After captaining Färjestad in 2018–19, his fourth year with the club, he left as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL on 13 June 2019. When that contract ended, he returned to Färjestad BK as a free agent on 3 May 2021, agreeing to a three-year contract in the SHL. After winning the Le Mat Trophy with Färjestad in 2021–22, Wikstrand missed the following two seasons through injury and announced his retirement from professional hockey on 24 April 2024.