48 years into its inception, the NHL drafted the first foreign-born player, a move that opened doors for many foreign nationals to come and play in the USA. The above graphic from Betway illustrates just how the shift of nationalities in the league has developed over time. In case you were wondering, it doesn’t only happen in the NHL, as other major sports leagues such as the NBA, MLB, and NFL have followed suit, and are actually way ahead in terms of the number of countries they represent. For instance, while the NHL boasts of 20 different nationalities, the NBA is leading with 37, followed by the NFL at 23, and the MLB, which closely follows 21.
The USA and Canada no longer represent the only dominant nationalities in the League, and the world has yet to witness a new breed of international players, whose number stands at 1.7M as per the IIHF survey in 2019. Besides this new breed, there is a group of foreign-born players who have already carved a space and a name for themselves in the NHL’s history. They include but aren’t limited to the following:
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1. Daniel Alfredsson – Sweden
Daniel Alfredsson is among the few European players who spend most of their careers skating for a single club, having spent 17 seasons as a winger for the Ottawa Senators, a club that drafted him for his first NHL appearance. He only played for 18 seasons, and the last one was spent with the Red Wings, garnering him a total of 444 goals and 713 assists.
2. Marian Hossa – Slovakia
Aged 41, Marian Hossa once declared that he once made more than $4 million in his NHL career that started way back in 1997 via the Ottawa Senators. As of 2015, Marian Hossa ranked 9th in all-time European players who’ve shown exemplary performance in the NHL, with 1,056 points in 1172 regular-season outings. Other clubs that enjoyed his skating prowess during his long-lived career include Pittsburgh, Atlanta Thrashers, and Detroit.
3. Dominik Hasek – Czech Republic
Dominik Hasek is a European extra-ordinary goalie who will never be forgotten in the history of the NHL, having a career that spun from 1990 to 2018. In fact, when it comes to shutouts, he is ranked sixth on the all-time NHL list, with 81. Like many other European players, Dominik Hasek was prevalent in various clubs such as Ottawa, Chicago, Buffalo, and Detroit, during which he also managed to bag two Stanley Cups.
4. Sergei Fedorov – Russia
Sergei Fedorov is a Russian forward who dominantly skated in the NHL for a marvelous career that spun for almost two decades. In fact, after playing for about 19 years in the NHL (1990-2009), he headed back to his home league, the KHL, where he also showed exemplary performance. Sergei Fedorov scored 483 goals during his career, and managed to play for prominent clubs like Washington, Detroit, Columbus, and Anaheim.
5. Stan Mikita – Czechoslovakia
Lastly, you might also be interested in knowing Stan Mikita, the first-ever European player to be signed with the NHL. Even though Stan Mikita learned how to play Ice hockey in Canada where his family had moved, he loved to be associated with his former country, Czechoslovakia. He was a good penalty shooter and managed an amazing 541-goal record throughout the entirety of his career.
