Öhlund played two seasons in the Swedish Allsvenskan, the second highest tier of hockey in Sweden, with Piteå HC before being selected by the Canucks 13th overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

He began his NHL career with Vancouver in 1997–98, the start of an 11-year tenure with the club in which he became the Canucks' all-time leader in points for a defenceman (since surpassed by Alexander Edler).

Internationally, Öhlund represented Sweden in numerous tournaments, beginning with three World Junior Championships that included Best Defenceman honours as part of a silver medal effort in 1996.

The following season, he scored 14 points in 38 games as Luleå HF won the Le Mat Trophy as champions of the Elitserien, their first league championship.

Under league rules, the Canucks were given one week to either match the contract or trade Öhlund's NHL rights to the Maple Leafs.

[4] As part of a promotion for the 1998 Winter Olympics, the first to allow NHL participation in the ice hockey tournament, the Canucks opened the 1997–98 season with a pair of games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Tokyo.

[6] Playing 77 games as a rookie, he tied Jyrki Lumme for the team lead in scoring among defencemen with 7 goals and 30 points.

[9] His 30 points, the fifth best total among first year players and highest by a rookie defenceman, helped him earn a position on the NHL All-Rookie Team.

[10] Prior to the start of the 1999–2000 season, in a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators on September 21, 1999, a puck deflected off Öhlund's stick and struck him in the right eye.

[12] Playing in his first game back in the lineup on November 28, 2000, Öhlund scored the game-winning goal for the Canucks in a 4–1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

[15] As well as briefly playing in Sweden, Öhlund took part in a charity hockey match set up by Canucks teammate Brad May and held in Vancouver on December 12, 2004.

[16] The NHL resumed play for the 2005–06 season; Öhlund recorded 33 points in 78 games, including leading Canucks defencemen with 13 goals, winning the Babe Pratt Trophy for the fourth time in his career.

[7][17] Early in the 2007–08 season, Öhlund received a four-game suspension, the first of his career, for an incident near the end of a November 16, 2007, game against the Minnesota Wild.

[6] Over 11 seasons with the Canucks, Öhlund registered team records of 93 goals and 325 points as a defenceman (both since passed by Alexander Edler).

[24][25] In his latter years with the Canucks, Öhlund served as a mentor while being paired with fellow defenceman and Swedish native Alexander Edler, who was beginning his NHL career.

[26][27] Becoming an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, Öhlund signed a seven-year, $26.25 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1, 2009.

Despite his reduced offensive statistics, he remained a key defenceman on the Lightning roster, leading the team with 22 minutes and 47 seconds of average ice time per game and 116 blocked shots.

[33] Öhlund failed to score a goal for the second consecutive regular season in 2010–11, recording 5 assists in 72 games, a career-low.

His ice time reduced significantly as he ranked sixth among team defencemen with an average of 18 minutes and 43 seconds per game.

[41] In Game 2 of the opening round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Öhlund registered his first goal with the Lightning, scoring into an empty net in a 5–1 win.

[44] After there was optimism he was close to returning to the lineup in December, he suffered a setback with his left knee and underwent further surgery in February 2012.

He was until that date listed on the team roster but was on injured reserve since 2011, with hockey experts citing him alongside Chris Pronger and Marc Savard as players who have not officially retired while letting their contracts continue, but who will not play in the NHL again.

As the medals were determined by a round-robin format, Sweden fell one point short of Canada, losing 6–4 to them in their final and deciding game.