Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre

Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (born February 2, 1977) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman playing for Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan (Swe-1).

Jean-Luc is of Haitian descent. He was drafted in the seventh round, 179th overall, by the St. Louis Blues in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Grand-Pierre is a very smooth and agile skater for a player of his size. He once won the Speed Skating competition of the AHL All-Star Game, beating Martin St. Louis among others.

Career
After playing four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Grand-Pierre made his professional debut in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans during the 1997–98 season, recording ten points and 211 penalty minutes in 75 games. During the 1998–99 season, he made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres, appearing in 16 games.

After once again spending part of the season with the Sabres in 1999–2000, Grand-Pierre was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. Grand-Pierre spent three full seasons with Columbus before splitting the 2003–04 season between the Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers, and Washington Capitals. In his NHL career, Grand-Pierre has appeared in 269 games, scoring seven goals and 13 assists.

Grand-Pierre spent the 2005–06 season with Duisburg Die Füchse of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga before joining the DEG Metro Stars for the 2006–07 season, then signing with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League for the 2007–08 season spending the entire season with the Devils' AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. In 2008 he returned to Duisburg. On July 20, 2009, it was announced that he had signed a one-year deal with Leksands IF of the Swedish second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan (Swe-1). He was loaned out to Stjernen of the Norwegian GET-ligaen for 10 matches in the fall of 2009.

Grand-Pierre was rented by the Finnish SM-liiga team TPS prior to the 2010–11 season, for taxiation reasons. He played for the team until October 15, 2010.

Grand-Pierre was released from the Leksands IF organization on September 1, 2011. Subsequently he signed a one-year contract with the Swe-1 team Malmö Redhawks on October 4, 2011.

Personal life
Grand-Pierre is cousin to Georges Laraque and QMJHL-player Jules-Edy Laraque. He is a licensed real estate agent in the State of Ohio, and currently works for HER Real Living and The Raines Group.