Swedish defender David Johnny Oduya is a professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey league (NHL). He has also represented Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he took home a silver medal.
David Johnny Oduya was born on 1 October 1981 at Stockholm, Sweden and he is the son of George Oduya of Kenyan Luo descent while his mother was a Swedish.
He played junior hockey with Hammarby IF in J20 SuperElit. He later played with Djurgardens IF and Frolunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League before making his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils in 2006. Since childhood Phil Esposito, Brian Leetch, and Claude Julien were his NHL heroes.
His first club was Hammarby IF, where he played as a junior. At the age of 19, he moved to North America to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 2000 where he was known for his aggressive defense challenges.
In 2007 after joining with New Jersey Devils for two seasons, Oduya received a salary of $600,000 thousand per year. He then received a salary of $2.9 million in his three seasons with Atlanta Thrashers.
While spending his in and out of the season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Oduya earned about $3 million and according to various sources, Oduya has a net worth of $7 million.
Oduya, after spending one season in North America, he moved back to Sweden and played two seasons with Hammarby in HockeyAllsvenskan before signing a contract with Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Elitserien.
Even though Oduya fought with opposition players and registered high penalties, he was also a dependable player and played regularly in the Swedish national team during the Euro Hockey Tour.
In 2001 he moved to another Swedish team, Frölunda HC where he played as a more offensive defenseman, scoring eight goals and 11 assists.
Oduya signed with the New Jersey Devils for the 2006-07 season. Since then Oduya has played for several teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won the Stanley Cup Championships in 2013 and 2015.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, he moved to Thailand to play for the Flying Farangs and helped the team win the first Land of Smiles title in franchise history. He has represented Sweden at tournaments like the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won a silver medal. In 2015, he signed with the Dallas Stars.
After spending a season with the Dallas Stars, Oduya was traded back to Chicago Blackhawks and appeared in 15 regular season games.
As a free agent, having left the Blackhawks for the second time, Oduya agreed to a one-year bonus ladened contract with the Ottawa Senators on 24 July 2017 but after being placed on waivers by the Senators, Oduya was claimed by the Philadelphia Flyers on 26 February 2018.
David also had a brother Fredrik Oduya who himself was also a hockey player but sadly passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2011.
CAPTION: David Oduya with girlfriend Alexandra Berhe SOURCE: FotosFX.com Oduya does not like to share his personal life and thus media and other sources know very less about his life outside the game. Oduya said that his girlfriend Alexandra Berhe was his inspiration to return to the field after his injury.
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