Markus Naslund captained the Vancouver Canucks for eight seasons, won the Lester B. Pearson Award, and left the club in 2008 as its all-time leader in goals and points. Then he went home to the small Swedish town where he grew up. He tried running a hockey club there for a few years, and then he changed fields completely.
Where is Markus Naslund now?
Markus Naslund is a property developer in Sweden. Since 2014 he has worked mainly in real estate development and investment, he told the Swedish sports site Sportbibeln in October 2023, with one project in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik and several more in the ski resort of Are, together with partners. He still lives in Ornskoldsvik and has no role in hockey, though he enjoys watching his old club Modo.
| Markus Naslund: then and now | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Canucks captain, 48 goals and 104 points in 2002-03 |
| Position | Left wing, shoots left |
| Born | 30 July 1973, Ornskoldsvik, Sweden |
| Drafted | 1991, first round, 16th overall, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| NHL career | 15 seasons, 1,117 games, 869 points |
| Last NHL season | 2008-09, New York Rangers |
| Current role | Property developer in Ornskoldsvik and Are, as of October 2023 |
| Swedish name | Markus Näslund |
His best-known project is in Ornskoldsvik’s inner harbor. He bought a run-down waterfront site and, together with the town, planned new homes and restaurants there, SVT reported in 2016. The project, Strandkajen, broke ground in August 2018 with 38 apartments in two buildings and restaurants on the ground floor, and was due to be ready for residents in February 2020, according to the local paper 7an.
The move into property started earlier. Before that, from December 2010, he spent about three and a half years as general manager of Modo, the club where he started. In January 2016 he told the Vancouver Sun about a ski resort development he was involved in, describing it as right in the area where former Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler grew up, and said the switch had been “interesting and fun”, jumping into a different field.
Is Markus Naslund related to Mats Naslund?
No. Markus Naslund and Mats Naslund, the Montreal Canadiens star of the 1980s, are not related, even though both grew up in the same region of northern Sweden.
Is Markus Naslund in the Hall of Fame?
No. Markus Naslund has not been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He wore the captain’s C in Vancouver from 2000 to 2008. The Canucks retired his No. 19 in 2010, and his peak years put him among the best wingers of his time: three straight First Team All-Star selections from 2002 to 2004, the Pearson Award as the players’ choice for MVP in 2003, and second place in the Hart Trophy voting the same year.
He played 1,117 NHL games and scored 395 goals before his NHL career ended in 2009, at 35, and he never reached the Stanley Cup Final.
The Markus Naslund trade Pittsburgh lost
Markus Naslund grew up playing for Jarveds IF outside Ornskoldsvik, made his debut in Sweden’s top league with Modo in 1990-91 and reached the NHL with Pittsburgh in 1993. He scored only four goals as a rookie, then found his touch in 1995-96 with 19 goals in 66 games. On 20 March 1996, Pittsburgh traded him to Vancouver for winger Alek Stojanov, according to Hockey-Reference’s transaction log. Both were first-round picks in 1991: Stojanov seventh overall and Naslund 16th. Stojanov played 107 NHL games and scored seven points. Naslund scored 756 points for the Canucks alone.
From the 1991 draft class, only Ray Whitney, Alex Kovalev and Peter Forsberg scored more NHL points than Markus Naslund’s 869, and only Kovalev scored more goals. Naslund outscored the first overall pick that year, Eric Lindros, by four points. Pat Falloon, taken second by San Jose, went home to farm.
Markus Naslund’s NHL stats
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | Pittsburgh | 71 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 1994-95 | Pittsburgh | 14 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 1995-96 | Pittsburgh and Vancouver | 76 | 22 | 33 | 55 |
| 1996-97 | Vancouver | 78 | 21 | 20 | 41 |
| 1997-98 | Vancouver | 76 | 14 | 20 | 34 |
| 1998-99 | Vancouver | 80 | 36 | 30 | 66 |
| 1999-2000 | Vancouver | 82 | 27 | 38 | 65 |
| 2000-01 | Vancouver | 72 | 41 | 34 | 75 |
| 2001-02 | Vancouver | 81 | 40 | 50 | 90 |
| 2002-03 | Vancouver | 82 | 48 | 56 | 104 |
| 2003-04 | Vancouver | 78 | 35 | 49 | 84 |
| 2005-06 | Vancouver | 81 | 32 | 47 | 79 |
| 2006-07 | Vancouver | 82 | 24 | 36 | 60 |
| 2007-08 | Vancouver | 82 | 25 | 30 | 55 |
| 2008-09 | NY Rangers | 82 | 24 | 22 | 46 |
| Total | 1,117 | 395 | 474 | 869 |
When he left Vancouver, his 346 goals and 756 points were franchise records. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have since passed him. Read also the five words that made him give up the wooden stick. The channels for every Canucks game are in our guide to how to watch the Vancouver Canucks.
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