The Ottawa Senators had a bit of a longer flight than usual on their latest road trip.
The Senators will take on the Colorado Avalanche on Friday and Saturday in Stockholm, Sweden, in a pair of games nearly an 11 hour flight from the Canadian capital.
While many players will be in unfamiliar territory over the next week, four Senators will feel right at home.
Fredrik Claesson, Erik Karlsson and Johnny Oduya currently comprise three of the Senators’ top six blueline spots. Goalie Marcus Hogberg traveled on the trip as the team's third goalie. Defenceman Andreas Englund is with Belleville, the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate. Prospect Filip Ahl plays for Orebro in the Swedish League.
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In the midst of its 25th campaign, the team has drafted 17 Swedish youngsters in total and has had an equal number don Senators’ sweaters in NHL play.
As the team ventures across the Atlantic to play the NHL Global Series in Stockholm for the second time in club history, Sporting News presents the Top Five Sweden-born Ottawa Senators:
5. Andreas Dackell (1996-2001)
401 games: 65 goals, 115 assists, 180 points
Andreas Dackell was a key ingredient on Senators’ special team units. The 1996 sixth-rounder was known as a defence-first winger who had a knack for chipping in offensively when required. Twelve of Dackell’s 65 total goals were game-winners.
In 1998-99, the Gavle native tied a career high in goals (15) and compiled career marks in assists (35) and points (50).
4. Mika Zibanejad (2011-16)
281 games: 64 goals, 87 assists, 151 points
Drafted sixth overall in 2011, at 18 years, 172 days old Zibanejad became the youngest player to play for the Senators – picking up an assist in his first NHL game. The centre played four full seasons with the team, seeing his points total rise each season. From 20 in the lockout-shortened campaign to 33, 46, and finally 51 before being dealt to the Rangers for Derick Brassard in the 2016 offseason.
Zibanejad holds the club record for the fastest three goals by one player, scoring a natural hat trick in 2:38 on Feb. 27, 2016 versus the Flames.
3. Magnus Arvedson (1997-2003)
393 games: 92 goals, 118 assists, 210 points
In a rare occurrence, Magnus Arvedson wasn’t drafted until he was 25 years old. The 1998-99 campaign, Arvedson’s second NHL season, was his best offensively and defensively. Known as “The Machine,” Arvedson compiled 47 points (21 goals and 26 assists) and finished runner-up to the Stars' Jere Lehtinen for Selke Trophy honours.
The trio of Arvedson-Radek Bonk-Marian Hossa was one of the NHL’s top two-way lines for several seasons.
2. Erik Karlsson (2009-current)
565 games: 118 goals, 351 assists, 469 points
At age 27, few NHL defenceman have accomplished as much as Erik Karlsson has so far in his career. Karlsson has won two Norris Trophies, and was runner-up on two occasions. Karlsson and the Islanders' Denis Potvin are the only d-men to lead their team in points in four consecutive seasons.
The four-time All-Star led the league with 66 assists in 2015-16 and has finished among the top ten in points three times. Karlsson also played 324 consecutive games after tearing his Achilles on Feb. 16, 2013.
1. Daniel Alfredsson (1995-2013)
1178 games: 426 goals, 682 assists, 1108 points
Daniel Alfredsson ended his career with the Senators as franchise leader in goals (426), assists (682) and points (1108). The Gothenburg native led his club in scoring on four occasions, including breaking the 100-point barrier in 2005-06 (43 goals and 60 assists for 103 points). Alfredsson set the club record for points in a single game with seven (3 goals, 4 assists) on Jan. 24, 2008 vs. the Lightning.
Alfredsson added 100 postseason points in 121 games. The NHL’s longest-serving European captain (14 years), he was also the first European to wear the “C” in a Stanley Cup Final. Alfredsson led the 2007 playoffs in scoring with 14 goals and eight assists.
The 1995-96 Calder Trophy winner participated in six All-Star games and counts the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for charitable contributions and the Mark Messier Leadership award among his accolades.