Kyle Wellwood

Kyle Wellwood (born May 16, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL. He was originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs 134th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft and played his first three seasons in the NHL with Toronto, before joining the Vancouver Canucks in 2008. After not re-signing with the Canucks Wellwood played in Russia for Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He left the team due to family concerns and was signed by the St. Louis Blues. He never played a game with them as he was claimed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks. After one season with the Sharks he signed with the Jets as a free agent.

Junior
Wellwood was drafted by the Belleville Bulls in the first round, 16th overall, in the 1999 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft. In his second season with Belleville (2000–01), he put up 118 points, capturing the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the league's leading scorer. The next season, he was traded in January 2002 to the Windsor Spitfires for Jason Spezza. As a Spitfire, he tallied 100 points in 57 games, including a 29-game stretch in which he scored 26 goals and 59 points. In his final year of junior, he also received the William Hanley Trophy as the OHL's sportsman of the year, as well as the CHL Sportsman of the Year Award by playing in 57 games without a single penalty minute that year.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Wellwood was drafted in the 5th round, 134th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He turned pro in 2003–04 when he joined Toronto's minor league affiliate, the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League (AHL). Wellwood recorded 55 points in his professional rookie season while also appearing in his first NHL game with the Maple Leafs that year. The NHL lockout the following season guaranteed that Wellwood would play in the AHL one more season. On October 30, 2004, he set a St. John's franchise record by scoring 5 goals in one game against the Cleveland Barons. He finished his second season with St. John's in 2004–05 fourth in league scoring with 87 points.

As NHL play resumed the following season in 2005–06, Wellwood joined Toronto's lineup. When captain Mats Sundin was injured in the first game of the season, Wellwood was bumped to centre the first line between Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov in Sundin's absence for a month. He posted a career-high 45 points in his rookie campaign. The following season, on December 16, 2006, Wellwood scored his first NHL hat trick in a game against the New York Rangers. He also had two assists that same night for a career-high five point NHL game. On pace to surpass his rookie totals, Wellwood was sidelined for almost half the season and finished with 42 points in 48 games.

Wellwood suffered a sports hernia before the start of the 2007–08 season, and consequently he missed the first 15 games. He returned on November 6, 2007, against the Ottawa Senators. After the Leafs had been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, Wellwood went to Philadelphia for minor surgery on the opposite side of his groin from the first operation, prematurely ending his season with 21 points in 59 games.

Vancouver Canucks
During the 2008 off-season, Wellwood broke a bone in his right foot while playing indoor soccer. With his contract set to expire, the Leafs placed him on waivers on June 24. He was claimed the following day by the Vancouver Canucks and was signed to a one-year, $998,000 contract. Reporting to training camp, he failed his initial fitness test and, although he passed a later evaluation, he was a healthy scratch to begin the season. On October 17, after having played just one game for the Canucks, he was placed on waivers; after clearing, he was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Because the addition of Wellwood would have put the Moose over the limit for veteran players, Wellwood started looking at playing options in Europe; however, two days after clearing waivers, injuries to the Canucks forced them to call Wellwood up from the minors, and he cleared re-entry waivers 24 hours later. Wellwood took advantage of this opportunity by getting a goal and an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets and stuck with the club. Later in the season, on February 17, 2009, Wellwood ended a streak of 159 games without a penalty by taking a high-sticking penalty against the Calgary Flames. It was his first penalty since April 11, 2006. Wellwood ended his first regular season in Vancouver with 18 goals and 9 assists. Having never reached the post-season with the Maple Leafs, Wellwood made his NHL playoff debut with the Canucks in 2009 and scored his first NHL playoff goal in game four of the first round against the St. Louis Blues, helping Vancouver complete a sweep in a 3–2 overtime win.

In the off-season, Wellwood became a restricted free agent. After taking the Canucks to arbitration on July 28, 2009, he was re-signed to a one-year, $1.2 million contract two days later on July 30 ; terms in the collective bargaining agreement did not allow the Canucks to walk away from a ruling of less than $1.57 million. Having earned a reputation in his first Canucks season for a lack of fitness, Wellwood reported to training camp for the 2009–10 season 15 pounds lighter than in the previous year. He started the season on the third line with Steve Bernier and Mason Raymond, a combination that coach Alain Vigneault carried over from the latter stages of the 2008–09 season and playoffs. Wellwood was sidelined early in the season, suffering a broken toe after blocking a shot from Maple Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek in a game on October 24, 2009, but he returned to the lineup just eight days later, on November 1. He finished the campaign with 14 goals and 25 points in 75 games. He followed that up with a seven-point post-season as the Canucks were eliminated by the Blackhawks in the second round.

KHL and San Jose Sharks
After two seasons in Vancouver, the Canucks let Wellwood become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2010, opting instead to sign Manny Malhotra from the San Jose Sharks as their projected third-line centre. Wellwood's main goal during the off-season was to find an opportunity to play centre on a scoring line. He accepted an invitation to the Phoenix Coyotes' training camp on a try-out basis. However, he was unable to secure a spot on the Coyotes' roster and was released on October 1. Four days later, Wellwood signed with Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In January 2011, he was released from Atlant. Initially it was believed that he had been released due to performance issues, but it was soon revealed that Wellwood was returning to his hometown of Windsor, Ontario, for family reasons.

Later in the 2010–11 season, he was reported to have signed with the St. Louis Blues; however, Blues officials denied the report, stating that they were unsure where the information came from. Team general manager Doug Armstrong stated that they were interested in Wellwood but they had not signed him. According to a St. Louis-based reporter, the team was waiting for confirmation of Wellwood's release from Atlant before they finalized the signing. On January 17, Wellwood officially signed a one-year deal with the Blues, but needed to clear re-entry waivers before joining the team. The following day, he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks. He scored his first goal for the Sharks on February 1, 2011 in a game vs. the Coyotes. Wellwood's goal tied the game at 3–3 and was considered a rallying point for San Jose as they came back to win 5–3 after being down 3–0. In March Wellwood noted that the Sharks were a more mature team and would be better than the Canucks because they've been through more adversity in the playoffs. The two teams eventually met in the Western Conference Finals. When asked about Wellwoods comments prior to Game 1 of the series former teammate Kevin Bieksa stated "I don't even remember what the weasel said." The Canucks won the series 4–1 advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Winnipeg Jets
After becoming a free agent in the off-season Wellwood signed a one-year $US 700,000 deal with the Winnipeg Jets on September, 8th 2011.

International play
As a junior in his fourth and final OHL season, Wellwood competed for Team Canada at the 2003 World Junior Championships, earning a silver medal. He contributed 1 goal and 4 assists in 6 games.

Personal life
Wellwood grew up in Oldcastle, Ontario, just outside of Windsor. His brother Eric plays for the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL and was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. His sister Michelle is a teacher, like their mother Donna was before becoming a firefighter. Wellwood used hockey to escape from troubles at home. Wellwood and his fiancee, Bianca, became parents March 28, 2011 when their son, Roman, was born nine weeks ahead of schedule.

Awards
Major Junior
 * Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (OHL leading scorer) - 2001
 * OHL Plus/Minus Award - 2001
 * OHL First All-Star Team - 2001
 * OHL Player of the Week - October 15, 2002, March 23, 2003
 * Silver medal (Team Canada) - 2003 World Junior Championships
 * CHL Third All-Star Team - 2003
 * William Hanley Trophy (OHL sportsman of the year) - 2003
 * CHL Sportsman of the Year - 2003

AHL
 * Player of the month - November 2003
 * Player of the week - October 31, 2004

NHL
 * 1st star of the week - December 17, 2006
 * 2nd star of the night - April 4, 2011