Among the greatest NHL players of the last 25 years, the New York Rangers have their own addition to a stellar class, with Henrik Lundqvist making the NHL's Quarter Century team. The league has been announcing the players who made the final squad, and Lundqvist's inclusion is well deserved.
HEN-RIK 👏
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 11, 2025
Congratulations, Henrik, on being named to the #NHLQCTeam! pic.twitter.com/JZgO5Rgg89
Lundqvist played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers. Although he was unable to win a Stanley Cup, unlike some other goalies on the list, he did manage to win the biggest honor for a goalie, the Vezina Trophy during the 2011-12 season.
The Rangers' elite netminder also racked up 5 All Star Game appearances (2009, 2011, 2012, 2018, and 2019), and was an end of season all-star twice . As a rookie in 2005-06, the first season for the league after the cancelled 2004-05 season, Lundqvist made the All-Rookie team. But perhaps the biggest accomplishment of his illustrious 15-year career was what he accomplished in spite of where he was originally drafted. The Blueshirts selected Lundqvist 205th overall in the seventh round, when the draft had nine rounds, from Sweden's Frolunda HC, which is nowadays seen as one of Europe's top spots for funneling prospects to the NHL.
Nicknamed "the King" by long-time New York Post columnist Larry Brooks, Lundqvist was born on March 2, 1982 in Åre, Sweden, a tiny municipality on Sweden's western central border with a population of just 3,200. Lundqvist started his hockey career with Frolunda's under-20 team. He later moved to IF Molndal, another Swedish junior team, for a season before heading back to Frolunda's under-20 team and then to its senior team starting in the 2001-02 season.
Lundqvist made his NHL debut on October 8, 2005, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Rangers' cross-river rivals New Jersey Devils, though he did stop 24 of 27 shots faced. He assumed the starting job after Kevin Weekes suffered an injury early in the season against the Montreal Canadiens, and Lundqvist's hot start allowed him to get more playing time than initial expected so he ended the season with 53 starts. The Rangers ended the season with a third-place finish in the Atlantic Division but would be swept in the quarterfinal round by the Devils.
Lundqvist's followed that season up with a 37-22-8 record in his sophomore year, and a .917 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average earned him his second consecutive Vezina nomination. The year after that, the 2007-08 campaign, Lundqvist started 72 of 82 games, ending with a 37-24-10 record in the regular season. In the playoffs the Rangers made it all the way to the Eastern Semifinals, after sweeping the Atlanta Thrashers in the first round, but had their Stanley Cup dreams ended after losing in 5 games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 2008-09 season was one in which the Rangers' legend started getting additional attention, and Lundqvist made the first of his 5 All-Star Game appearance. This season saw him finish with a 38-25-7 record, but the Rangers fell in the first round again, this time going the distance with the Washington Capitals.
During the entirety of his tenure with the Rangers, "the King" made 1 Stanley Cup Final appearance, and it was during the 2013-14 season in which the Rangers fell to the Los Angeles Kings in 5 games. The series was closer than 5 games would indicate, and the final game ended in dramatic fashion when Alec Martinez scored the Cup-winning goal in double overtime. He would back stop the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014-15, but that was the deepest in the playoffs Lundqvist would go for the rest of his career.
Lundqvist put up career totals that are nothing short of extraordinary. He finished just short of 900 games played (887), tallied 459 wins, 64 shutouts and nearly 52,000 career minutes, When you take this accolades, factor in his Vezina Trophy, and Hart Trophy nomination, "the King" is undoubtedly deserving of his royal title.
It's a shame he couldn't play past age 37, as recurrent pericarditis forced him to hang up the pads after the 2019-20 season. But Henrik is living his best life now, happily married for 14 years to his wife Therese Andersson and has two daughters, Charlise and Juli. Henrik also runs his self-named foundation, a non-profit dedicated to positive change in healthcare and education in young children. All in all, a great player, an even greater person, and a more than worthy King deserving of being named to the NHL's most recent quarter century squad.