There’s been a bright side to the lockout for Patric Hornqvist -- it’s allowed him to rack up frequent flyer miles.
That trend continued on Wednesday as Swiss club Fribourg-Gotteron announced it had signed Hornqvist for the upcoming Spengler Cup.
Hornqvist, 25, has been a busy man during the work stoppage -- his European adventure first began in early October when he signed with the Martigny Red Ice, a second division team in Switzerland.
After putting up solid numbers in Martigny -- 7G-7A-14PTS in nine games -- he left to join Allsvenskan club Djurgardens, the team he represented at both the junior and senior levels before moving to the Predators organization in 2008.
Despite the homecoming, Hornqvist was not long for Djurgardens. He signed in mid-November and left in mid-December, playing just 10 games all told.
Tax reasons played a part in his decision to leave Sweden, though it’s also likely he relished the opportunity to play for Fribourg in the Spengler -- with the number of locked-out NHLers currently plying their trades in Europe, it’s become a marquee event.
Hornqvist been one of Nashville’s most consistent goalscorers over the last three years, averaging 26 per season while posting a career-high 30 in 2009-10.