[citation needed] Hävelid began his hockey career playing locally around his home of Enköping in Division 1 of the SIHA.

In 1999, he played in his first North American season, notching nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 50 games with Anaheim, making his NHL debut at Dallas on October 2, 1999.

A month later, he recorded his first goal, assist and multiple-point game in the NHL in one night against the Blackhawks and goaltender Jocelyn Thibault on November 19.

His lone two game minor league stint for post injury conditioning would be with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

In the early months of the 2000–01 season with the Ducks, Hävelid earned six of his ten assists for the year in a nine-game span from October 16 to 30, 2000.

Among five Mighty Ducks to play in all 82 regular-season games, he would set career highs with 11 goals, 22 assists and 33 points with Anaheim.

He was second among Mighty Ducks blue liners in points, goals and assists, and shared the team lead and was third among NHL defencemen with a career-best five game-winning tallies.

The new year of 2003 was injury free, and brought a plus or even rating in 11 straight games from January 18 to February 12, and was plus-eight in that span.

The Mighty Ducks began the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

With a closely contested sweep of the Minnesota Wild, he led the Mighty Ducks to their first NHL Western Conference Championship and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

On December 21, 2003, he took a career-high seven shots against the San Jose Sharks and registered a career-best four assists tying his career high with four points against Minnesota on January 23, 2004, in a regular season rematch.

[2] Due to the NHL lockout, Hävelid signed as a free agent with Södertälje, posting four points (two goals, two assists) over 46 games.

In Atlanta, he has averaged 24:49 of ice time per game over 159 contests with the Thrashers to rank first on the team's all-time list.

[4] While playing for the Thrashers, Hävelid operated an Atlanta-based charity named Havelid's Helpers that worked in conjunction with Habitat For Humanity to provide housing for low income families.

[5] Hävelid's son Mattias is a prospect of the San Jose Sharks, who selected him 45th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.