Playing career
Junior
As Patrick became more involved in hockey, his father transformed their family garage into a home gym and he trained with his uncle during the summer. [1] He played AAA Bantam Hockey League Division 1 ice hockey with the Winnipeg Hawks during its 2012–13 season, where he recorded 75 points in 19 games. [2] He missed nearly half of the season due to a shoulder injury, but nonetheless was regarded as a highly touted prospect. [2] [3]
Patrick was selected in 1st round, fourth overall, by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. In December 2013, during the midst of the Wheat Kings' 2013–14 season, a high number of injuries to the roster caused him to be called up from the Midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. [4] He was initially unavailable upon being called up due to a shoulder injury, and did not play during the call-up. [5] [6] He eventually played three games with the Wheat Kings at the conclusion of his Winnipeg Thrashers' season. [7] [8] He began his rookie season in the 2014–15 season, where he scored 30 goals and 56 points in 55 games. Between mid-February and mid-March 2015, Patrick missed 12 games with an upper-body injury, although initial reports were that it was a lower-body injury. [9] [10] [11] He was subsequently awarded the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL's rookie of the year despite missing a total of 17 games that season. [12] [13]
During the 2015–16 season, Patrick finished fifth in league scoring and was the first 17-year old Wheat King to score over 100 points since 1976–77 when Ray Allison and Brian Propp both eclipsed the century mark. [14] He played an integral part in winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup, leading all players in post-season points and was named the WHL Playoff MVP. [15] After the season, it was revealed that Patrick had suffered a sports hernia injury on April 27, 2016 during Game 4 of the WHL's Eastern Conference Final series against the Red Deer Rebels and had played through the WHL Finals and 2016 Memorial Cup with the injury. [16] Following the 2015–16 campaign, he received sports hernia surgery. [16]
For the 2016–17 season, Patrick was named captain of the Wheat Kings. Beginning the season, Patrick was widely considered the top prospect of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Dan Marr, NHL director of Central Scouting said "Patrick is as complete an NHL package as you are going to find. From his pedigree, his skills, and assets, to his performance impact to date, he has everything any NHL team is looking for in a top prospect." [17] After playing six games to begin the season, however, the Wheat Kings announced on October 14, 2016 that Patrick had once again been sidelined with an upper-body injury. [18] Despite initially being diagnosed as day-to-day, the injury continued through November, when it was revealed to be a complication of the previous season's sports hernia injury. [19] On December 5, 2016, Hockey Canada announced that Patrick had not been medically cleared to participate in Team Canada's 2017 World Junior training camp and thus would not play in the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. [20]
Despite missing most of the regular season and all four playoff games due to injuries, Patrick was ranked the No. 1 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Dan Marr stated "He has more than proven over the last three years that he is the real deal and he will be an impact NHL player". On June 23, 2017, Nolan Patrick was selected 2nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2017 NHL Draft. [21] On July 17, 2017, Patrick was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. [22] Before the Flyers development camp started, it was announced Patrick would not participate because he was recovering from abdominal surgery performed on June 13, 2017. [23]
Professional
Philadelphia Flyers
Patrick made his NHL debut on October 4, 2017 against the San Jose Sharks. [24] He registered his first NHL point in his third game with an assist on sophomore Ivan Provorov's goal against the Anaheim Ducks in a 3–2 OT victory. He scored his first NHL goal against the Nashville Predators in his fourth game on October 10, 2017. Patrick scored his first goal with 9:25 remaining in the second period. [25] Patrick was hit by Anaheim Ducks player Chris Wagner on October 24, 2017 and missed 9 games to recover from the injury. [26] [27] [28] Patrick ended the regular season with 30 points in 73 games.
In his rookie season, the Flyers made the Stanley Cup playoffs and faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. In Game 2 of the series, Patrick notched his first NHL Playoff goal. [29] Patrick ended the post-season with 2 points in 6 games. On July 21, 2018, Patrick was selected as the number 1 breakout player for 2018–19 by NHL Network. [30]
While exercising during the 2019 off-season, Patrick began to feel headaches and felt his performance suffer as a result. He was initially diagnosed with an "upper-body injury" at the Flyers' training camp, and in September, a neurologist from the University of Michigan diagnosed Patrick with a migraine disorder. [31] When Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher announced Patrick's diagnosis, he clarified that the migraines were not believed to be related to hockey, and that the condition ran in Patrick's family. [32] He began skating with the team in February 2020, and had hoped to start playing before the end of the regular season. [33] The 2019–20 NHL season was suspended indefinitely on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the NHL began their "Return to Play Plan" in July, Patrick was not on the Flyers' training camp roster. [34]
On October 16, 2020, Patrick accepted a one-year qualifying offer from the Flyers, with a value of $874,125. [35] Going into the Flyers' 2020–21 training camp, Patrick cleared all medical protocols and began practicing on a line with Travis Konecny and Carsen Twarynski. [36] Patrick scored a goal in the Flyers' season opener, a 6–3 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was his first NHL game in 650 days. [37] He failed to carry that momentum through the rest of the pandemic-shortened season; Patrick played in 52 of the Flyers' 56 games, scoring only four goals and five assists and putting up a -30 plus-minus in the process. [38] Patrick told reporters afterwards that he felt "like I came in behind the eight-ball", and that, at the start of the season, he had avoided strong contact due to his migraine disorder. [39] He missed two games in the middle of April after taking a shot from teammate Philippe Myers off of the ear, an injury that Patrick worried would amplify his headaches. [40]
Vegas Golden Knights
After the 2020–21 season, Patrick acquired a new agent, leading to rumors that he was going to request a trade from the Flyers. [41] On July 17, 2021, shortly before the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, the Flyers traded Patrick and Philippe Myers to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Ryan Ellis. While Myers remained in Nashville, the Predators immediately flipped Patrick to the Vegas Golden Knights to acquire forward Cody Glass; [42] the trade reunited Patrick with Kelly McCrimmon, Vegas' general manager who was Patrick's head coach (and general manager) during their time together with the Brandon Wheat Kings. [43] Two months later, Vegas signed Patrick to a two-year, $2.4 million contract. [44] The Golden Knights suffered a rash of injuries through the first few games of its 2021–22 season, and Patrick was sidelined with an upper body injury on October 22, following his first goal of the season in a loss to the Edmonton Oilers. [45]
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in the 2022–23 season without him and ultimately chose not to ask for an exemption to allow his name to be engraved on the Cup with the rest of the team. On June 30, 2023, the Golden Knights chose not to qualify Patrick, a restricted free agent, a contract, and he became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. [46]
