Robert Linus Alexander Klasen (born 19 February 1986) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for Djurgårdens IF of the HockeyAllsvenskan (Allsv).

Linus Klasen
Born (1986-02-19) 19 February 1986 (age 38)
Stockholm, Sweden
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
Allsv team
Former teams
Djurgårdens IF
Södertälje SK
Nashville Predators
Luleå HF
HC Lugano
National team  Sweden
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2004–present

Playing career

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Klasen started his career with Huddinge IK and has played with Södertälje SK in the Swedish Elitserien. He played 3 games with team Sweden in the 2007–08 season.

On 30 October 2010 Klassen made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators in an away game against the Detroit Red Wings.[1]

Klasen signed a three-year contract with the Malmö Redhawks of the HockeyAllsvenskan on 17 May 2011. He was immediately appointed the team's captain. The contract included an annual salary of 4 million SEK ($0.6 million USD), making him the best paid ice hockey player in Sweden.[2] He scored 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 52 games and helped the team reach a playoff spot. However, due to economical crisis in the Redhawks club, Klasen was forced to leave the club after the 2011–12 season. His contract is being paid out by the Redhawks.[3]

Following the 2011–12 season, Klasen signed a two-year contract with Luleå HF of the Swedish top-tier league Elitserien (SEL) prior to the 2012–13 season.[4] He will keep the same annual salary from Malmö Redhawks during these two years.[5]

After the final year of his contract with Luleå, in which Klasen compiled his most prolific SHL season with 28 goals and 57 points in just 54 games, he left as a free agent to sign a lucrative four-year contract with Swiss club, HC Lugano, of the NLA on 2 April 2014.[6] In his debut season with Lugano in the NLA, Klasen finished second in team scoring with 55 points in 46 games to be selected in the 2014–15 NLA All-Star Team.

After 6 seasons and 265 games with HC Lugano in the NL, Klasen was not offered a contract extension and decided to return to his native Sweden by signing a two-year deal with Luleå HF of the SHL.

On 10 May 2021 Klasen joined EHC Visp of the second tier Swiss League (SL) on a two-year contract.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Lincoln Stars USHL 26 7 9 16 13
2004–05 Huddinge IK Allsv 2 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Huddinge IK Div.1 35 22 40 62 36 8 2 11 13 12
2006–07 Huddinge IK Allsv 44 16 34 50 28 8 3 10 13 2
2007–08 Södertälje SK SEL 52 14 20 34 24
2008–09 Södertälje SK SEL 53 14 15 29 8
2009–10 Södertälje SK SEL 51 19 32 51 20
2010–11 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 47 22 23 45 20
2010–11 Nashville Predators NHL 4 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Malmö Redhawks Allsv 51 20 30 50 24 6 4 7 11 2
2012–13 Luleå HF SEL 47 10 14 24 18 14 4 8 12 4
2013–14 Luleå HF SHL 54 28 29 57 45 6 2 2 4 0
2014–15 HC Lugano NLA 46 20 35 55 10 6 1 4 5 0
2015–16 HC Lugano NLA 49 14 35 49 18 15 5 12 17 8
2016–17 HC Lugano NLA 50 11 37 48 30 11 1 6 7 8
2017–18 HC Lugano NL 43 12 26 38 24 3 0 0 0 0
2018–19 HC Lugano NL 31 6 21 27 18 1 0 0 0 0
2019–20 HC Lugano NL 46 8 26 34 22
2020–21 Luleå HF SHL 50 14 28 42 43 7 0 6 6 2
2021–22 EHC Visp SL 43 18 39 57 45 6 4 2 6 8
2022–23 EHC Visp SL 8 2 10 12 12
SHL totals 307 99 138 237 160 20 6 10 16 4
NHL totals 4 0 0 0 0

International

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Medal record
Representing   Sweden
Ice hockey
World Championships
  2014 Minsk
Men's Inline Hockey
World Championships
  2007 Landshut
  2008 Bratislava
  2009 Ingolstadt
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Sweden WC   10 2 7 9 8
2016 Sweden WC 6th 7 1 1 2 0
Senior totals 17 3 8 11 8

Inline Hockey

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Linus has competed for Sweden at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships.

References

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  1. ^ "Klasen Reassigned to Milwaukee". predators.nhl.com. Nashville Predators. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Linus Klasen klar för Malmö" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  3. ^ Martin, Nathalie (2012-05-17). "Hugo Stenbeck och Malmö Redhawks eniga" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. Retrieved 2012-05-22.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Hedlund, Robert (2012-05-22). "Poängstark forward till Luleå Hockey" (in Swedish). Luleå HF. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  5. ^ Andersson, Jan Peter (2012-05-23), "Klasen tar med sig rekordlönen till Luleå", Expressen (in Swedish), retrieved 2012-05-23
  6. ^ "The talent and the golden hands of Linus Klasen come to Lugano" (in German). HC Lugano. 2014-04-02. Archived from the original on 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
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