Lundkvist, 22, played in his first professional season in North America, splitting the 2021-22 campaign between the New York Rangers and Hartford of the American Hockey League (AHL). He recorded four points (1-3=4) in 25 regular-season games with the Rangers, including his first career goal on Dec. 8 vs. Colorado. Lundkvist also posted 15 points (3-12=15) in 34 AHL games for the Wolf Pack.
He spent the 2017-2021 seasons playing for Lulea HF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he amassed 78 points (30-48=78) in 166 career regular-season games. He was named the winner of the Salming Trophy in 2020-21, which is awarded annually to the best Swedish-born defenseman in the SHL, as selected by Hockey Hall of Famer Borje Salming. His 14 goals in 2020-21 were the most by a defenseman in one season under the age of 21 in SHL history.
"Nils is a skilled, right-handed shot defenseman that adjusted to the North American game this past season and has a high ceiling," said Nill. "We felt that adding a creative player like Nils to our defensive group was necessary, and he has a tremendous opportunity to establish himself as an everyday, impact defenseman at the NHL level."
The 5-foot-11, 187-pound native of Pitea, Sweden was originally selected by the Rangers in the first round (28th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Internationally, he has represented his home country of Sweden at the 2018 IIHF U-18 World Championship, the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships and the 2021 World Championship. He won bronze at the tournaments in 2018 and 2020.
