Lucas Nygren Biography [2/2]

[Advantage 2,769]

Lucas Nygren

#7 – Malmo Nighthawks - RW

 

Lucas Nygren is the VHL’s newest high-potential player, as he will enter into inaugural season in hopes of having a successful first campaign.  How did he get to this point? Well, Malmo’s most hyped about prospect in years had a long journey to reach this point, from his early years as an internet sensation to being considered one of the top prospects in the world.  Welcome to my biography on Lucas Nygren, a potential future star in the Victory Hockey League, and a player whose ties to the newly created Malmo Nighthawks, will set himself up to be the face of Swedish hockey now and in the future.

 

Lucas Nygren was born in Malmo, Sweden to his parents Anne and Magnus Nygren.  Magnus was a hockey player in his own right, being drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and was a star in the Swedish Hockey League with Farjestad BK, recording 142 career points in 253 games as a defender.  From an early age, Lucas took a quik interest in hockey and began skating and playing with his father at a young age.  Growing up, he played in the initial leagues for kids under six years old, but it wasn’t until that age that he started to really showcase his talent to the world.

 

After showing a lot of clear talent, Lucas started to play in the under eight-year-old league in Sweden, despite being only six.  His father would video tape all of his games and started to post highlight clips to Youtube that would inevitably start the hype train on what would become one of the top prospects in the world.  The clips would ultimately end up with millions of views and showcased Lucas Nygren deking past defenders and firing pucks into the back of the net on a consistent basis.  In Malmo, they don’t keep track of offensive statistics at this young of an age, but what became clear to anyone watching was that Lucas Nygren was the best prospect under the age of eight in the country.

 

As he worked his way up in his adolescent days, Nygren continued to fill nets and turn heads and even spent some time as a member of the Swedish National Team.  He played at eleven years old in the Under-14 World Championships and was tied for the team lead in scoring despite being an underage player.  The next year he recorded the most goals in the tournament with fifteen in nine games.  One VHLM scout who was watching the game for eventual future talent had this to say: “He stood out with every single shift.  He reminded me of a young Tom Lincoln to be honest.  Tremendous skater and can create a lot of space for himself before burying the puck with style.  Isn’t the most physical player but his shiftiness makes him tough to hit as well.”

 

Nygren’s potential carried him to an opportunity to play in the Swedish Hockey League.  However, with an opportunity to make himself known more to the VHL and VHLM teams, Lucas decided to move to Canada instead and partake in the CHL Import Draft.  Nygren would get selected ninth overall by the Mississauga Steelheads and would join the likes of Thomas Harley, Ryan McLeod and Owen Tippett.  After two seasons with the Steelheads, Nygren would record 77 goals and 149 points in 131 games and even had a tremendous playoff run that would see them fall in the OHL Finals.  While the team would fall short, Nygren would record 17 goals and 29 points in the 19 games.  With that his time in the OHL would end and Lucas would turn his head towards the VHLM.

 

“Today, we are excited to announce the signing of Lucas Nygren to the Minnesota Storm.  He will play a depth role for us and will then be drafted this off-season.” These were the words from Minnesota’s GM who added the young forward to his star-studded roster.  They were so good that Nygren sorta just played a bench role, recording 0 points in 11 regular season games but was a +5 during that period.  He was held pointless in 11 playoff games as well but Minnesota would win the Founder’s Cup and Nygren would gain his first accomplishment in his young VHL career.

 

The off-season would come and Nygren would get drafted by the Saskatoon Wild with the fourteenth overall selection.  The Wild had a lot of talent with future Nighthawks teammates like Rusty Shackleford, Brian Strong and Juan Jaundice all having significant roles on the team.  Nygren would have a slow start but really rallied down the stretch, finishing with 30 goals and 66 points in 72 games.  He capped it off with an even better playoff performance, recording 15 points in 10 games but the Wild would unfortunately fall short and that would end Nygren’s VHLM Career.

 

Lucas Nygren will now turn his head towards his hometown Malmo as he joins several other rookies on their sophomore season.  It appears that after a position switch, the now winger will play on the second line alongside Phil Marleau and Blake Gaudette on an all-rookie line.  It will be interesting to see the impact he will have but the Nighthawks have to be very excited to have a likely long-term piece from their hometown on their squad.  As for if Lucas is excited, well lets just listen in on his off-season press conference: “I couldn’t be happier to return home to Malmo and do more than just train.  I know that I am here to also play hockey on our great city’s newest VHL team.  Last year was up and down for them, but with a lot of our young talent jumping up I am pretty excited to see what we can do.  With myself, Phil, Rusty, Blake, Brian, Michael, Morpheus and Trevor we have so many talented rookies that will have to learn how different the VHL is from the VHLM.  But I think we are all pretty excited honestly and feel the Nighthawks have a very bright future.”

[Donno100 94]

Review: A pretty interesting tale. I enjoy the idea of Nygren being a young prodigy and seeing how he performed in the Saskatoon games, it definitely explains a few aspects of his game and what formed him to this point in time.  The backstory fills simple the quota of "how player got from X to Y" and gives good insight on the hero's journey for this lad. May Nygren's career be long and prosperous and that once he reaches Malmo, his abilities are able to bring The Nighthawks to a Trophy.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Donno100

[chillzone 231]

Review: I like hearing about athletes being able to play for their hometown, will def be rooting for Lucas Nygren. i like the personal touches to the story - the father filming his son play hockey and the quotes from scouts and GM. would have been nice to include a little more graphics and some chapter titles to help guide the reader more. good work!