Ex-Canucks captain Naslund has completely new career in Sweden
It wasn’t long ago that Markus Naslund’s name was floated among contenders for the Vancouver Canucks’ front office opening.
Those whispers were apparently unfounded, something that Naslund confirmed on Tuesday.
The ex-Canucks captain joined Donnie and Dhali on Tuesday and gave a firm update on whether he’d consider working in the NHL or with the Canucks in any capacity.
“Uh, no,” Naslund said bluntly.
The 52-year-old then revealed that he’s entered a completely new line of work over the last few years.
“I’m working in real estate now,” Naslund told hosts Don Taylor and Ryan Henderson.
“I’m working with municipalities. I’m working with design guides, and I’m working with budgets… all that fun stuff.”
“It’s been a big change from playing hockey, but I like learning new things, and I have partners in my deals that have long, long time experience, and I get to learn from them and achieve something together a little bit, like a team, and set goals and so forth.”
Naslund appears to be a board member of Ćrnskƶldsvik-based company Nordkajen Fastighetsutveckling AB. A European company database website shows that Naslund has been a board member of the company since 2021.
It looks like Naslund isn’t a newbie to the industry either. Back in 2016, he partnered with others to purchase property in his hometown for the purpose of redevelopment.
Although the Canucks’ second all-time leading goal scorer has moved away from hockey and into real estate, Naslund also revealed that he plans on being more involved with MoDo Hockey, a team he was general manager of until leaving the organization in 2014.
“I’m actually going to, most likely, join the MoDo board,” he said. “MoDo is not in the SHL, the highest level, and they want to make some changes.”
“I said I’ll join here for a year and see how things go. But, not as an active day-to-day management personnel. I haven’t had that desire since I stepped away.”
It’s a role that doesn’t have as much publicly scrutiny as the one the Sedins just took on in Vancouver.
“I was caught by surprise,” Naslund said when asked about his initial reaction to the news. “I didn’t see that coming. Not that they can’t handle it, but I didn’t think they wanted to get involved that heavily.”
“But again, I think it’s a great hire. I obviously have nothing but respect for Daniel and Henrik, and I know if they’re taking this challenge on, they’re doing it for the right reasons.
“I’m cheering them on, and I’m sure they’ll put their heart and soul into it.”