Gustav Nyquist is one of the most talented hockey players that has attended the University of Maine. Nyquist played three seasons for the Black Bears and totaled 144 points in 113 games. On Sept. 17, he was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame.
Nyquist was born on Sept. 1, 1989 in Halmstad, Sweden. He started his hockey career playing for his local youth team Limhamn Hockey. Later on, he joined the Malmö Redhawks, where he played on their teams for 16, 18 and 20-year-olds. Nyquist was drafted into the NHL by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft before attending UMaine.
After graduating from high school, Nyquist enrolled at UMaine to play hockey. He quickly made an impact upon arriving, leading the team in scoring as a first-year student. He was named to the Hockey East All Rookie team, named Rookie of the Week on Nov. 3, 2008 and Rookie of the Month in December 2008.
By his second year at UMaine, Nyquist had become one of the best players in the entire country. He was named a first team All-American in 2010, and was included on the Hockey News first team, All-American First Team and Inside College Hockey All-America First Team. That season Nyquist finished as runner-up for the Hobey Baker award, which is awarded to the best collegiate hockey player in the country.
Before the 2010-2011 season, Nyquist was named an assistant captain of the hockey team. He was also named Hockey East player of the month. When the season ended, he finished No. 17 in points scored by a UMaine hockey player.
Nyquist was both a great hockey player and a great scholar. He was named a Maine Scholar-Athlete Rising Star his first year and was also named to the Hockey East Academic Honor Roll. Throughout his time at UMaine, he was also nominated for the Dean Smith award as one of the best scholar-athletes.
After three seasons at UMaine, Nyquist went pro and spent the next six seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and their AHL affiliate the Grand Rapid Griffins. During his time in the AHL he helped the Griffins win the 2013 Calder Cup. After being called up to the Red Wings, he had a team-leading 28 goals, along with 20 assists, in 57 games. He also had a six-game goal streak, the longest by a Red Wings player since 2010.
He was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2019, and then in 2020 signed a four year contract worth $22 million with the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent. He would miss all of the 2020-2021 seasons due to a labral tear in his left shoulder, but he is set to have a big impact on the Columbus Blue Jackets this upcoming season as a second liner.
