Are Hockey Stars Nico Sturm and Marco Sturm Related? Inside the Details

In the world of famous faces and notable names, many share uncanny similarities to each other leading fans to question if they have a deeper connection. However, the most common similarity is when two celebrities have the same last name and fans immediately make the leap that they are somehow related — which is what happens with hockey’s Nico Sturm and Marco Sturm.

Nico, a German NHL standout, has played for a variety of professional teams in the league, including the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, and the Florida Panthers.

Despite fans’ insistence that the two must be related in some way, no, Nico and Marco are not related at all. The connection they share is their chosen profession of hockey.

In 2022, when he joined the San Jose Sharks, Nico commented on joining Marco’s former team and how he expected fans to respond. “I’m sure we’ll see one or two [Marco Sturm jerseys] and I’m probably going to have to answer the question if we’re related a couple of times again,” he said.

In February 2025, a few weeks before he was officially traded, Nico opened up about the possibility of leaving the San Jose Sharks. “You’re a 29-year-old UFA with no extension in place. You got to be realistic about it,” he began, according to San Jose Hockey Now.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no possibility of me coming back here in the summer,” Nico said. “Really, anything’s on the table right now, and it’s always been great communication between me, Griersy, and my agent.”

“You never know what’s going to happen,”he continued. “So two weeks time, maybe nothing will happen, I don’t know. But I’m prepared for whatever. I’ll play for the Sharks until the day they tell me otherwise. I’m gonna play 100 percent for the crest.”

Once the deal of Nico’s trade to the Panthers was finalized, Taylor, who is also a successful hockey star, shared her take on his move.

“He said that was nice, because sometimes when you get traded, you’re not at the rink, you’re at the hotel, and maybe guys are taking their pre-game nap, so you don’t really get that chance to say goodbye. You just have to shoot everybody a text,” she said of Nico getting a chance to say a final goodbye to his former Sharks teammates, per San Jose Hockey Now.

“Nico had called, and I knew right away, it happened,” Taylor recalled. “I was in my car and he called me, and he’s like, ‘Hey, I can’t talk very long.’ Because he had to call his agent, he had to talk to the team, he had to do all these things. ‘I just want to tell you before you find out anywhere else I’m being traded to the Panthers. I’ll give you a call the second I have a minute. But I just wanted to let you know.’”