Niederreiter grew stronger through adversity Jets third-liner has blossomed into 20-goal man after early-career struggles By: Ken Wiebe Posted: 7:40 PM CST Thursday, Mar. 6, 2025

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This article was published 06/03/2025 (501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHILADELPHIA — Nino Niederreiter was just a teenager, navigating the ebbs-and-flows of his first full NHL season when his first real bout of self doubt began to creep in.

Chosen fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 2010 NHL Draft, Niederreiter made the team out of his first training camp and appeared in nine games before being returned to the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

Niederreiter was seemingly on top of the world, getting a good taste of the NHL, often skating alongside star centre Doug Weight.

Niederreiter even scored his first NHL goal (assisted by Weight) on Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals in his third NHL game.

He added an assist four games later, so the early indications were his style of play was going to translate well to the professional level when he was ready for full-time employment.

“You’re lining up against (Ilya) Kovalchuk and all of those players and you’re like ‘Wow, the dream is really starting to feel real,’” said Niederreiter.

He was so close, he could essentially taste it and his confidence soared as he returned to the WHL for a second season, sniping 41 goals and producing 70 points in 55 games before adding eight more goals and eight assists in 13 playoff contests.

When he arrived for his second NHL camp, Niederreiter showed that he was ready to make the jump.

After starting on a line with John Tavares and Matt Moulson, Niederreiter suffered an injury.

“You’re lining up against (Ilya) Kovalchuk and all of those players and you’re like ‘Wow, the dream is really starting to feel real.’”– Nino Niederreiter

By the time he returned, he was used mostly on the fourth line with Jay Pandolfo and Marty Reasoner and the offensive opportunities didn’t come as easily as they had the year earlier during his brief stint with the Islanders.

“As a young guy, you have to move your way up. That’s how it’s supposed to be,” said Niederreiter. “I just got stuck there on the fourth line and never got the chance again up top. But that helped probably mould me into the 200-foot player that I am today.”

Before that transpired, the search for his second NHL goal dragged on.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.

The search for solutions came up empty.

By the time Niederreiter played his 50th game that season, he still had a goose egg under the goals column.

That’s a long time to wait when you’re accustomed to finding the back of the net on a regular basis.

“That was not the way I pictured things,” said Niederreiter, whose Winnipeg Jets faced the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. “After playing nine games (as an 18 year old), I thought I could contribute in this league. Then, there were times (during his rookie season) where I felt like maybe I just don’t belong here (in the NHL). Just go back (home to Switzerland).

“It’s tough, but then you also realize that it’s a humbling league. You have a phenomenal start and then things are not going the way you want them to go. What did I do wrong? You question yourself on most of the things. It was definitely a humbling, humbling time.”

Niederreiter finally scored in his 51st game, his lone marker in 55 games during the 2011-12 campaign.

“He had a big body, played a certain way that created opportunities offensively.”–Jets assistant coach Dean Chynoweth

Any lost confidence would return after spending the entire 2012-13 season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League, as he delivered 28 goals and 50 points in 74 games.

That summer, Niederreiter was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Cal Clutterbuck and a third round draft pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

That’s where Niederreiter’s career really started to take off.

After notching 14 goals in his first season with the Wild, he earned a reputation for being tough to play against and blossomed into a seven-time 20-goal scorer.

“He was wide-eyed coming in and you could see the potential in him,” said Jets assistant coach Dean Chynoweth, who was an assistant with the Islanders when Niederreiter broke into the NHL. “He had a big body, played a certain way that created opportunities offensively.”

Chynoweth went from seeing the formative years to what is now a more finished product.

“Any player that continues their career, goes through stretches like that as a young guy,” he said. “You do have some doubts. To see him develop — and I also had him in Carolina (with the Hurricanes), you could see it just took some time. So you’ve got to have some patience, you’ve got to have people around you that believe in you. He’s done a good job of that with the stops in the different places that he’s been.

“He realized what he is and how he could be effective. It was just a matter of doing it on a consistent basis.”

Niederreiter is thankful for his time with the Islanders organization.

“That’s the team that drafted me,” said Niederreiter. “They gave me my first chance, gave me my first NHL game, my first NHL goal. They’re always going to be a big part of my NHL career. That’s where it all started.

“It’s cool to see players like (Mark Scheifele) who can play their whole career on the same team. It’s something I would have liked to do, but the opportunity to go somewhere else afterwards and I had a chance to take off, so it’s just another step in my career.”

As the Jets played their final game before the NHL trade deadline on Thursday, Niederreiter confessed it’s still a bit of an uneasy time.

That’s a natural feeling for someone who has been on the move at this time of the year on two different occasions, including the 2019 trade to the Carolina Hurricanes and the 2023 trade with the Nashville Predators that brought him to the Jets.

As someone who inked a three-year contract extension in December of 2023 that kicked in on July 1, Niederreiter isn’t in any danger of finding a new address before Friday.

Even that hasn’t put his mind at ease.

“Especially with the situations I’ve been in the past, what I learned is that you never know what’s going to happen,” said Niederreiter. “During the trade deadline, for me personally, it’s never a fun time. In this league, you never know what could be offered.

“Do I expect to be (moved)? I hope not, but some teams are going to be a lot stronger (for the stretch) and some teams won’t be doing anything, so it will be an interesting trade deadline, that’s for sure.”

Niederreiter makes up one-third of one of the most effective third lines in the NHL and while he took an eight-game pointless drought into Thursday’s action, he snapped it with an assist on a second period goal from Adam Lowry and remains fifth on the Jets in goals.

His willingness to spend time around the blue paint is something the Jets are going to be leaning on when looking for secondary scoring once the Stanley Cup playoffs arrive.

“You want to make sure you have a good feeling going into the playoffs,” said Niederreiter. “You want to get your mojo back and you want to feel good about yourself, make sure the team is doing well and prepared for what’s coming.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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