The trade deadline is usually an eventful time of the year for Swedish forward Oskar Sundqvist. Last year on the day before the deadline he signed a two-year contract extension with the St. Louis Blues. Each of the two years before that he was traded – in 2022 from the Blues to the Detroit Red Wings and then in 2023 from Detroit to the Minnesota Wild.
“It’s the worst day of the year,” Sundqvist said in a recent interview with regional Swedish newspaper NSD. “I’ve been traded on it twice and almost had a heart attack every time the phone rang.”
In the interview, which is behind a paywall but quotes were reported by HockeyNews.se, Sundqvist said that he and his girlfriend are looking for a house in Norrbotten, the region in northern Sweden where he’s from.
“I’ll keep an eye out in case something pops up that we’re interested in,” he said. “She’s from (the United States) but she loves Sweden. She likes the nature and thinks it’s so peaceful. So the plan is that we’ll have a house here and one in Sweden, although I’m a little worried. She hasn’t experienced a winter in Norrbotten yet,” he laughed.
Sundqvist was drafted in the third round, 81st overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He’s played in North America since 2015 and has won two Stanley Cups – one with Pittsburgh in 2016 and one with St. Louis in 2019. In all, he has 159 points in 477 NHL regular-season games and 11 more points in 37 playoff games.
the SHL club announced on Thursday, that will see him remain with the club through to 2027.
Sundqvist will be 32 when his current NHL contract expires and the Swedish newspaper asked him if he’d consider returning home at some point to finish his career.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” he answered. “I don’t know how many more seasons there will be for me in the NHL – it could be anything from one to five and we’ll see how my body is then.”
Sundqvist was born and raised in Boden, a town of 16,000 inhabitants that is farther north than Luleå, the northernmost SHL team. He played junior and turned pro with Skellefteå, the second-most northern SHL team.
“Then someone will want me,” he figured. “It’s…