Wallin's career began in Bodens IK, his hometown team. Having had a breakthrough in the 1995–96 season, he was picked up by the Swedish
Elitserien team
Brynäs. After spending some years with Brynäs, Wallin was drafted in the fourth round, 97th overall by the Hurricanes at the
2000 NHL entry draft and remained at the team until February 2010. During the
2004–05 NHL lockout, Wallin returned to his native Sweden, playing 39 games for
Luleå. In
2006, he won his first
Stanley Cup with the
Carolina Hurricanes. Niclas Wallin is known to many Hurricanes fans as
The Secret Weapon due to his timing with postseason goals. He has only scored four of them, but all of them have been game winners, and three have come in overtime, including games against the
Montreal Canadiens and
Toronto Maple Leafs in
2002 and Game 2 of the
2006 postseason series against the
New Jersey Devils. The fourth one was a game-winning goal in Game 2 of the
2011 Western Conference Semi-Finals against the
Detroit Red Wings. Wallin was featured in a Top 10 list on
TSN's
Sportscentre in 2006 after he scored a famous own goal in a game against the
Washington Capitals. A delayed penalty was called on Washington, and Carolina removed their goalie from the net to get an extra skater. Wallin was chased out of the offensive zone by
Alexander Ovechkin and tried to deke around a passing referee. When he did this, Wallin lost control of the puck and it sailed more than 100 feet into Carolina's open net. On 7 February 2010, it was announced that Wallin was traded to the
San Jose Sharks along with a fifth-round draft pick in exchange for a second-round draft pick that originally belonged to the
Buffalo Sabres in the
2010 NHL entry draft. On 26 June 2010, Wallin re-signed to a one-year contract to remain with the Sharks for the following
2010–11 season. On 15 June 2011, Wallin signed a three-year contract to return home to captain Luleå HF of the Elitserien. After one season with the club, Wallin ended his professional career due to injury. ==International play==