Marcus Ragnarsson played six years of hockey in the Swedish Elite League with Djurgardens before making the leap to North America to launch his NHL career with the San Jose Sharks in 1995.
With so many years of elite competition already under his belt, Ragnarsson had all of the skills necessary to step right into the Sharks' lineup and add stability to the team.
He did so by establishing himself as a consistent and dependable rearguard who played a sound positional game and made good use of his size to maintain control of his own zone. He also showed great stamina by logging a tone of minutes in key situations.
Ragnarsson opened the 2001-02 campaign at his usual post on the Sharks defense, surrounded by his youthful proteges before being dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers midway through the 2002-03 season. Upon his arrival with the Flyers, Ragnarsson continued his solid play in his own zone and was a key player in helping Philadelphia reach the Eastern Conference Final in 2003-04.
On the international stage Ragnarsson is a two-time member of Sweden's World Championship team (1995 and 1997), a two-time member of it's Olympic Team (1998 and 2002) and a member of it's World Cup team (2004).
