Drew Stafford

Last updated
Drew Stafford
Drew Stafford Sabres 2012-02-19.JPG
Stafford with the Buffalo Sabres in 2012
Born (1985-10-30) October 30, 1985 (age 38)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Buffalo Sabres
Winnipeg Jets
Boston Bruins
New Jersey Devils
National teamFlag of the United States.svg  United States
NHL draft 13th overall, 2004
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2006–2019

Drew Stafford (born October 30, 1985) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger. Stafford was drafted in the first round, 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and has played for the Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents

Early life

Stafford was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but grew up in Faribault, Minnesota. As a teenager, he played AAA hockey with the Milwaukee Jr Admirals. His father, Gordie, played professional hockey in the International Hockey League (IHL) and is the director of hockey at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, where Drew also played high school hockey. [1] Stafford's uncle, Barrie Stafford, was the head equipment manager for the Edmonton Oilers for 28 years before retiring in 2012. [2]

Playing career

Amateur

Stafford played for the St. Albert Bantam AA Flyers in St. Albert, Alberta, in 1999–2000. During the season, he finished third in League scoring with 26 goals and 47 points in 30 games while leading his team to a provincial berth. At the conclusion of the season, Stafford was selected to participate in Hockey Alberta's elite development program as a member of the Northwest Sharks in the 2000 Pioneer Chrysler Alberta Cup.

Stafford played at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, for two years and played on the US national team at the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championships. He then played for three seasons at the University of North Dakota and on the US national team at the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Following his freshman season, Stafford was drafted 13th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. After two more seasons, he signed a professional contract with the Sabres in 2006, foregoing his senior season at the University of North Dakota. Stafford finished his three-year collegiate career with 118 points (48 goals and 70 assists).

Professional

Stafford skating with teammate Jordan Leopold in 2011 Leopold and Stafford.jpg
Stafford skating with teammate Jordan Leopold in 2011

Buffalo Sabres

Stafford began his professional career with Buffalo's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. With nine points in the first 11 games of the season, he caught the attention of Sabres management, and was called up to Buffalo in early November to replace injured winger Maxim Afinogenov. In his NHL debut on November 5 against the New York Rangers, Stafford assisted on a game-winning overtime goal by Daniel Brière, earning his first NHL point. On November 11, he scored his first goal in the NHL on the Philadelphia Flyers' Antero Niittymäki. He won NHL Rookie of the Month honors for March 2007 despite the fact that Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avalanche had his record-breaking rookie scoring streak in the same month. Stafford scored his first game-winning goal on February 27 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Stafford became a regular in the Sabres' lineup during the 2007–08 season, scoring his first career hat-trick against the Atlanta Thrashers on January 18, 2008. More than a year later, he went on to score his second hat-trick in a 10–2 rout of the Edmonton Oilers on January 27, 2009. A little less than a year after that, he celebrated his third hat-trick on December 15, 2010, against the Boston Bruins. He added his fourth, also against Boston, on January 1, 2011, his fifth on February 8, 2011 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and his sixth on February 13, 2011, against the New York Islanders. On June 3, 2011, Stafford signed a four-year, $16 million contract extension with the Sabres. [3]

Winnipeg Jets

In his ninth season with the Sabres in 2014–15, on February 11, 2015, Stafford was traded alongside Tyler Myers, Brendan Lemieux, Joel Armia and a 2015 first-round draft pick (Jack Roslovic) to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and the rights to goaltending prospect Jason Kasdorf. [4] On February 14, 2015, in just his second game on the Jets, Stafford scored a goal in regulation, as well as the shootout winner, in a 5–4 shootout victory over the Detroit Red Wings. [5] On February 6, 2016, during a game against the Colorado Avalanche, Stafford hit Nick Holden in the face with a high stick, earning him a one game suspension. [6] On the eve of free-agency Stafford re-signed to a two-year contract to remain in Winnipeg on June 30, 2015. [7]

Boston Bruins

On March 1, 2017, Stafford was traded from Winnipeg to the Boston Bruins for a conditional 6th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. [8] [9] On March 4, Stafford played in his first Bruins game, racking up his first scoring point as a Bruin by assisting on Ryan Spooner's game-winning goal against the New Jersey Devils for a 3-2 home ice win at TD Garden. [10] Stafford scored his first Bruins goal on March 8, Boston's third goal en route to a 6-1 home ice defeat of the visiting Detroit Red Wings. [11]

New Jersey Devils

On August 25, 2017, Stafford signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the New Jersey Devils. [12] In 59 games with the club, Stafford recorded eight goals and 15 points in 59 games.

On September 7, 2018, Stafford signed a professional tryout agreement to attend the Devils' training camp. [13] On October 5, the Devils signed Stafford to a one-year, $810,000 contract. [14] [ non-primary source needed ]

On January 4, 2019, Stafford scored the game-winning shootout goal in his 800th regular season NHL game. [15]

On September 4, 2019, it was announced that Stafford would attend the Minnesota Wild's training camp on a professional tryout. [16]

Personal life

Stafford was born in Milwaukee, when his father, Gord Stafford, played professional hockey with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League and the Wichita Wind of the Central Hockey League during the 1980s. [17] Stafford formed a band called Red Seal Peach while at the University of North Dakota with goaltender Jordan Parise. [18] Stafford appears in the Every Time I Die video for "Decayin with the Boys," playing jenga at a party in full hockey uniform. [19]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
2001–02 Shattuck–Saint Mary's HSMN 4535538830—————
2002–03Shattuck–Saint Mary'sHSMN64496711648—————
2003–04 University of North Dakota WCHA 3611213230—————
2004–05 University of North DakotaWCHA4013223534—————
2005–06 University of North DakotaWCHA4124234763—————
2006–07 Rochester Americans AHL 3422224430—————
2006–07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4113142733102244
2007–08 Buffalo SabresNHL6416223851—————
2008–09 Buffalo SabresNHL7920254529—————
2009–10 Buffalo SabresNHL711420343530000
2010–11 Buffalo SabresNHL623121523471232
2011–12 Buffalo SabresNHL8020305046—————
2012–13 Buffalo SabresNHL466121821—————
2013–14 Buffalo SabresNHL7016183439—————
2014–15 Buffalo SabresNHL509152439—————
2014–15 Winnipeg Jets NHL2691019841120
2015–16 Winnipeg JetsNHL7821173828—————
2016–17 Winnipeg JetsNHL40491312—————
2016–17 Boston Bruins NHL184481262022
2017–18 New Jersey Devils NHL59871510200010
2018–19 New Jersey DevilsNHL57581318—————
NHL totals84119623242841532651118

International

Medal record
ice hockey
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Helsinki
YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2002 United States U18 5th512314
2003 United States WJC18 4th63258
2004 United States WJC Gold medal icon.svg60222
2005 United StatesWJC4th754914
2006 United States WC 7th70110
2008 United StatesWC6th71346
2009 United StatesWC4th92136
Junior totals249101938
Senior totals2335812

Awards and honors

AwardYear
College
All-WCHA Third Team 2006
AHL
All-Star Classic 2007

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References

  1. ↑ "Shattuck St. Mary's Hockey Staff". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Oilers Long-Time Equipment Manager Barrie Stafford Honored by Hockey Legends" . Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ James O'Brien (2011-06-04). "Buffalo Sabres sign Drew Stafford to four-year, $16M contract extension". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Kane, Bogosian dealt to Sabres in eight-player blockbuster deal". TSN. February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Drew Stafford's shootout goal in 4th round sends Jets to 5-4 win over Detroit Red Wings". Times Colonist. February 14, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  6. ↑ "NHL suspends Drew Stafford 1 game for high-sticking". cbc.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 8, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Jets re-sign Drew Stafford to two-year contract". sportsnet.ca. Sportsnet. June 30, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Jets agree to terms with Drew Stafford". Winnipeg Jets. 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  9. ↑ "Jets Trade Stafford to Bruins for pick". TSN. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ Kalman, Matt (March 5, 2017). "Bruins win another under Bruce Cassidy". Boston Bruins . National Hockey League . Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Bruins crush Red wings 6-1". National Hockey League. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  12. ↑ "Devils sign RW Drew Stafford to a one-year contract". National Hockey League. August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ Ryan, Chris. "Devils bring back Drew Stafford on tryout". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  14. ↑ "New Jersey Devils on Twitter: "The #NJDevils have agreed to terms with RW Drew Stafford on a one-year, one-way contract worth $810,000. Stafford had been with New Jersey since the start of training camp on a PTO". Twitter. October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Marshall, John (2019-01-05). "Kinkaid stops 21 shots, Devils beat Coyotes 3-2 in shootout". AP News. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  16. ↑ TSN ca Staff (2019-09-04). "Stafford to attend Wild training camp on PTO - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  17. ↑ "Gord Stafford". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  18. ↑ Stephen Sickles. "Multi-talented: Getting to know the real Drew Stafford". Let's Go Sabres. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Decavin with the Boys". 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2014-06-17– via YouTube.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
2004 		Succeeded by
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