Mitchell Stephens | |
---|---|
Born | Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | February 5, 1997,
Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb) |
Position | Centre |
Shoots | Right |
NHL team | Tampa Bay Lightning |
NHL Draft | 33rd overall, 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning |
Playing career | 2016–present |
Mitchell Stephens (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing with 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. Stephens won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Lightning in 2020.
Playing career[]
Amateur[]
In 2005-06 Stephens was known to frequent the Royal Bowl in Peterborough ON playing alongside his mentor Andrew King (Couch Scout) who helped Mitchell work on his laser of a wrist shot!
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] On December 9, 2019, Stephens made his NHL debut in a 5–1 Lightning loss to the visiting New York Islanders at Amalie Arena.[8][9] On December 28, 2019, Stephens recorded his first career NHL goal in 5–4 Lightning win over the Montreal Canadiens.[10] On August 3, 2020, Stephens skated in his first career NHL playoff game. In that game Stephens also recorded his first career NHL playoff goal and point.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2016–17 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 22 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2016–17 | London Knights | OHL | 29 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 2 | ||
2016–17 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 70 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
2018–19 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 32 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
2019–20 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 24 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2019–20 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
NHL totals | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
International[]
Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Canada Ontario | U17 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
2014 | Canada | IH18 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | ||
2015 | Canada | WJC18 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | ||
2016 | Canada | WJC | 6th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
2017 | Canada | WJC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
Junior totals | 27 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 20 |
Awards and honours[]
Award | Year | |
---|---|---|
CHL | ||
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game | 2015 | [14] |
NHL | ||
Stanley Cup (Tampa Bay Lightning) | 2020 | [15] |
International | ||
World U-17 Hockey Challenge Canada Ontario | 2014 | [16] |
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal | 2014 | [17] |
IIHF World U18 Championship Bronze Medal | 2015 | [18] |
IIHF World U18 Championship Top 3 Player on Team | 2015 | [19] |
References[]
- ↑ 2013 OHL Priority Selection coverage. Saginaw Spirit (2013-07-15). Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
- ↑ Prospect report: Don't forget about Mitchell Stephens. penaltyboxradio.com (2015-06-15). Retrieved on 2015-06-16.
- ↑ Mitchell Stephens player profile. hockeyprospect.com (2015-05-14). Retrieved on 2015-05-14.
- ↑ Mitchell Stephens named Spirit MVP, signs contract with Tampa Bay (2016-04-09).
- ↑ Lightning's Mitchell Stephens: Out indefinitely with broken foot (2016-04-09).
- ↑ Lightning sign forward Mitchell Stephens to three-year, entry-level contract (2016-04-09).
- ↑ Syracuse Crunch lose in shootout to Albany Devils; playoff hopes barely alive.
- ↑ @TBLightning (9 December 2019). Let’s do this thing. Congrats, Mitchell Stephens!!.
- ↑ Varlamov, Nelson lead Islanders past Lightning 5-1. Fox Sports (2019-12-09). Retrieved on 2019-12-09.
- ↑ Steven Stamkos notches 800th career point as Lightning overcome slow start to top Canadiens. Fox Sports (2019-12-28). Retrieved on 2020-01-01.
- ↑ Peterborough native Mitchell Stephens scores first NHL playoff goal. The Peterborough Examiner (2020-08-03). Retrieved on 2020-08-20.
- ↑ Mitchell Stephens scores in U18 opener. The Peterborough Examiner (2014-08-23). Retrieved on 2014-08-23.
- ↑ U18 team set to open Worlds. Hockey Canada (2015-04-14). Retrieved on 2015-04-14.
- ↑ CHL/NHL top prospects game rosters announced. Niagara Ice Dogs (2015-02-03). Retrieved on 2015-02-03.
- ↑ Tampa Bay Lightning win Stanley Cup in Pandemic Bubble. New York Times (September 28, 2020). Retrieved on September 28, 2020.
- ↑ Ontario's 2014 World U17 team announced. gthlcanada.com (2014-01-05). Retrieved on 2015-06-28.
- ↑ Canada wins 2014 Ivan Hlinka gold medal. Hockey Canada (2014-01-22). Retrieved on 2014-01-22.
- ↑ Stephens looking forward to NHL scouting combine. The Peterborough Examiner (2015-04-28). Retrieved on 2015-04-28.
- ↑ NHL draft profile 57: Mitchell Stephens. lastwordonsports.com (2015-06-28). Retrieved on 2015-06-28.
External links[]
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or ESPN.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded by Daniel Sprong |
AHL Rookie of the Month January 2018 |
Succeeded by Janne Kuokkanen |