Forgotten Red Wings: Daniel Alfredsson
What? Alfredsson once wore the Winged Wheel?
The craze of Puckdoku has everyone looking up NHLers (former and present alike) to see what teams they played for throughout their career. Some have decades with one team, while others have bounced around logging upwards of 12 (in the case of Mike Sillinger) on their hockey cards. In this ongoing series, we will be looking back at some likely forgotten stints of players who are more known for their time with other teams.
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Let’s get started with Daniel Alfredsson, who spent all of his career with the Ottawa Senators; except for his final season in the NHL in 2013-14 when he played 68 games for the Detroit Red Wings.
Alfredsson Becoming a Red Wing
After 17 seasons with the Senators (and wearing the “C” for 13 of them), Alfredsson decided to leave the only team he ever knew and sign with the Red Wings in the offseason. A contract dispute with then-general manager Bryan Murray ultimately led to the signing and a reunion with several Team Sweden teammates Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson, and Niklas Kronwall.
Alfredsson signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings in pursuit of his first Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, they got eliminated in the first round by the Boston Bruins and Alfredsson retired from the NHL in the offseason.
Donning the Winged Wheel
At a ripe 41 years old, Alfredsson was not the 40-goal scorer he was back in the “Pizza Line” days alongside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, but he could still score. Since his last 40-goal season in 2007-08, he put up three more seasons of 20-plus goals and managed to finish his career with at least 10 goals in every single season - including his last season in the NHL when he scored 18 with the Red Wings.
Alfredsson was used quite heavily by then-head coach Mike Babcock, averaging 3:13 on the power play and 16:56 overall. It was the lowest average ice time he saw in his career, but surprisingly led the Red Wings in points with 49 and was third in goals with 18. Amid injury-plagued seasons for Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk (both only played 45 games), he was relied on to be the catalyst for the offense and sometimes the de facto captain when Zetterberg was out of the lineup. He wore an “A” for the first time since 1998-99, but embraced his role as an alternate captain with grace and humility.
"I think my role here is more I'm going to do everything I can to make it feel like they don't have everything on their shoulders, and not the other way around that they should take something off me," Alfredsson said. "I think if I can stay healthy and play to my abilities I should be able to do that. I think that's important. We know how good they are, and if we can help out behind them, I think it's going to make them even better."
Alfredsson returned to his old stomping grounds on Dec. 1, 2013, and didn’t disappoint as he had a goal and an assist in an eventual 4-2 win. The goal came on an empty net as the Senators were pressing for the tie.
"It was nice kind of to seal the game there," Alfredsson said. "They were pushing, and I was thinking, 'Here come the Pesky Sens again.' But we were lucky to get a good bounce there" (from ‘Red Wings' Daniel Alfredsson scores in return to Ottawa,’ USA Today, 12/1/13).
The Red Wings made the playoffs for the 23rd straight time that season when they faced off against the Bruins in the first round. Alfredsson and his team couldn’t get going, however, and eventually fell 4-1 in the series with Alfredsson recording zero points in three games.
Memories As a Red Wing
First Goal: Oct. 15, 2013, vs. Columbus Blue Jackets on Sergei Bobrovsky (assisted by Datsyuk and Zetterberg)
Last Goal (for the Red Wings & in the NHL): April 4, 2014, vs. Buffalo Sabres on Matt Hackett (assisted by Jakub Kindl and Justin Abdelkader)
Quotables
"It was great, just like playing with Nick, all those years…Such a smart player, but so humble, a true professional that did everything right. He was one of those guys you look up to and take in and learn as much as possible…Not only a great player, but a great person, a great ambassador for not only Ottawa, but for the game of hockey. Everything he did was class, whether it was talking to teammates, opponents, referees, fans, media." - Niklas Kronwall (from ‘Daniel Alfredsson made lasting impression on Red Wings,’ MLive, 12/29/16)
"Alfie was only (in Detroit) playing for one year but he stayed in the area for another couple years. For us Swedes, we spent a lot of time with him and his family, and for me growing up in Sweden, he was one of the big four for us - (Mats) Sundin, (Peter) Forsberg, (Nicklas) Lidstrom and him. He showed me a lot of things both on and off the ice." - Henrik Zetterberg
The Rest of Alfredsson’s Career
As most diehard hockey fans know, Alfredsson played 1,178 of his 1,246 games in the NHL with the Senators. He was drafted all the way down in the sixth round at 133rd overall and went on to become one of, if not the biggest draft steals in NHL history.
By the end of his career, Alfredsson had 444 goals and 1,157 points and sits 68th on the all-time goals list. He also holds several franchise records, including goals (426), assists (682), points (1,108), power play goals (131), shorthanded goals (25), hat tricks (10), and game-winning goals (69). Pick a category, and he probably leads the franchise in it.
Alfredsson also was part of one of the best lines in Senators history in the “Pizza Line” or “Cash Line” which included him, Spezza and Heatley. The line was at its best in the 2005-06 season when Alfredsson scored a career-high 43 goals and 103 points and Dany Heatley potted 50 goals. The following season, the trio led the Senators to the Stanley Cup Final against the Anaheim Ducks, but despite Alfredsson's best efforts and playoff-leading 14 goals, they lost the series in five games.
Alfredsson never got back to the Stanley Cup Final after that season and only made it to the playoffs four more times before he joined Detroit in 2013-14.
The success didn’t stop in the NHL for Alfredsson. He also had a storied career for Team Sweden at the World Juniors, World Championship, World Cup and the Olympics. All in all, he collected six medals at the international level culminating in a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics where he had five goals and 10 points in eight games. He also captained the 2012 team at the World Championship.
After announcing his retirement in 2014 and signing a one-day contract to officially retire as a Senator, Alfredsson was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside fellow Swedes Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 2022. His No. 11 jersey was also retired by the Senators on Dec. 29, 2016.
Where Is Alfredsson Now?
Alfredsson stayed out of the hockey spotlight for only a season before accepting a job with the Senators as a senior advisor to the general manager before the 2015-16 season. He remained in that role until 2017-18 and then started coaching youth hockey with the Ottawa Sting’s U14 and U15 AA and B teams.
He rejoined the Senators organization before the 2023-24 season as a development coach and was recently promoted to the position of assistant coach alongside interim head coach Jacques Martin.
Alfredsson’s legacy will always be with the Senators, but it was cool to see him play with a bunch of his fellow countrymen in Detroit for his final season in the NHL. He won’t be remembered as a Red Wing by many fans, but he will remain a part of the lore in Hockey Town nonetheless.
All-Time Red Wings’ Ranks
Games Played: 68 (T393rd)
Goals: 18 (T233rd)
Assists: 31 (T236th)
Points: 49 (T238th)