Mitchell Stephens (ice hockey)

Mitchell Stephens
Born (1997-02-05) February 5, 1997
Peterborough, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
NHL team (P)
Cur. team		 Tampa Bay Lightning
Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
NHL Draft 33rd overall, 2015
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2016–present

Mitchell Stephens (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian ice hockey player. He is currently playing with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stephens was selected by the Lightning in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Amateur

Stephens was selected 8th overall by the Saginaw Spirit in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection draft.[1] His outstanding play with Saginaw was recognized when he was chosen to skate as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.[2] During the 2014–15 season, Stephens was chosen to skate at the 2015 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.[3]

In his final season with Saginaw in 2015–16, Stephens made 43 appearances, tallying 22 goals and 19 assists, while being named team MVP.[4] He missed a significant number of games due to a broken foot that season.[5]

Professional

On April 4, 2016, he penned a three-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL.[6] and was sent to their farm team, Syracuse Crunch on an amateur try-out contract. He made his professional debut with the Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL) on April 8, 2016.[7]

International play

Stephens competed as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He was also invited to compete with the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament where he helped Team Canada win gold.[8] In April 2015, he captained the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team to a bronze medal as the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Toronto Marlboros GTMMHL 58 44 40 84 12 — — — — —
2013–14 Saginaw Spirit OHL 57 9 12 21 8 5 0 2 2 2
2014–15 Saginaw Spirit OHL 62 22 26 48 44 4 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Saginaw Spirit OHL 39 20 18 38 14 4 2 1 3 0
2015–16 Syracuse Crunch AHL 5 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
AHL totals 5 1 0 1 0 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada Ontario U17 5th 5 0 2 2 6
2014 Canada IH18 1st, gold medalist(s) 5 4 2 6 2
2015 Canada WJC18 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 7 5 5 10 10
2016 Canada WJC 6th 5 1 1 2 2
Junior totals 22 10 10 20 20

Awards and honours

Award Year
World U-17 Hockey Challenge Canada Ontario 2014 [10]
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal 2014 [11]
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2015 [12]
IIHF World U18 Championship Bronze Medal 2015 [13]
IIHF World U18 Championship Top 3 Player on Team 2015 [14]

References

  1. ↑ "2013 OHL Priority Selection coverage". Saginaw Spirit. 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  2. ↑ "Prospect report: Don't forget about Mitchell Stephens". penaltyboxradio.com. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  3. ↑ "Mitchell Stephens player profile". hockeyprospect.com. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
  4. ↑ "Mitchell Stephens named Spirit MVP, signs contract with Tampa Bay". MLive.com. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  5. ↑ "Lightning's Mitchell Stephens: Out indefinitely with broken foot". CBS Sports. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  6. ↑ "Lightning sign forward Mitchell Stephens to three-year, entry-level contract". Tampa Bay Lightning. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  7. ↑ "Syracuse Crunch lose in shootout to Albany Devils; playoff hopes barely alive". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. ↑ "Mitchell Stephens scores in U18 opener". The Peterborough Examiner. 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  9. ↑ "U18 team set to open Worlds". Hockey Canada. 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  10. ↑ "Ontario's 2014 World U17 team announced". gthlcanada.com. 2014-01-05. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  11. ↑ "Canada wins 2014 Ivan Hlinka gold medal". Hockey Canada. 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  12. ↑ "CHL/NHL top prospects game rosters announced". Niagara Ice Dogs. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  13. ↑ "Stephens looking forward to NHL scouting combine". The Peterborough Examiner. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  14. ↑ "NHL draft profile 57: Mitchell Stephens". lastwordonsports.com. 2015-06-28. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.