Chase De Leo

Chase De Leo
De Leo in 2014
Born	(1995-10-25) October 25, 1995 (age 28) La Mirada, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Left
NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams	Anaheim Ducks San Diego Gulls  (AHL) Winnipeg Jets New Jersey Devils
NHL Draft	99th overall, 2014 Winnipeg Jets
Playing career	2015–present

Chase De Leo (born October 25, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL), while under contract with the Anaheim Ducks in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Personal life

De Leo was born on October 25, 1995, in La Mirada, California, U.S. ^[1] to parents John and Janie who own a wholesale plumbing supply company. ^[2] De Leo originally played baseball before being convinced to take up roller hockey due to his mom finding the former sport boring. ^[3]

De Leo played roller hockey for the Orange County Blades before transitioned to ice hockey. He began playing as a goaltender for the Norwalk Knights before switching positions. ^[4] As a youth, De Leo played for the Los Angeles Selects minor ice hockey team, where he was a teammate of Eric Comrie. ^[5] While playing with this team, De Leo competed in the 2008 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. ^[6] After meeting Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy, De Leo chose to pursue ice hockey as a career. ^[2]

Playing career

De Leo played junior ice hockey for the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Portland Winterhawks from 2011 to 2015. During those four seasons, his showed consistent improvement each season and finished his junior career with 251 points in 279 regular season games, which included back-to-back 39-goal seasons. He also tallied 58 points in 81 playoff games and was part of the Winterhawks 2013 WHL championship team that advanced to the Memorial Cup final. ^[7]

The Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected De Leo in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. After completing his junior career in 2015, De Leo was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Jets' top minor league affiliate. He spent most of his first professional season with the Moose, but was briefly recalled by the Jets on March 20, 2016, to make his NHL debut on March 20 against the Anaheim Ducks. De Leo played one more game for the Jets before being returned to the AHL. ^[8] De Leo spent the following two seasons entirely with the Moose in the AHL. ^[9]

As an impending restricted free agent following the 2017–18 season, De Leo was traded by the Jets to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Nic Kerdiles on June 30, 2018. ^[9] De Leo was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls to start the 2018–19 season, but was recalled in March 2019 and made his Ducks debut on March 30, 2019 against the Edmonton Oilers. ^[10] That season with the Gulls, he set career-highs in goals (20) and points (55) while appearing in 66 games. ^[11] During the 2019–20 season, De Leo set a new career-high three shorthanded goals and served as an alternate captain, a role he continued into the 2020–21 season with the Gulls. ^[12]

Following three years within the Ducks organization, De Leo left as a free agent and was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils on July 29, 2021. ^[11] He was assigned to the Devils' AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets and led the team in scoring, with 21 goals and 56 points in 55 games. ^[13] He was recalled in November and made his Devils debut on November 24, 2021 in a 3–2 loss to the Minnesota Wild. ^[14]

After a lone season with the Devils, De Leo as a free agent opted to return to former club, the Anaheim Ducks, in signing a two-year, two-way contract on July 14, 2022. ^[13] He was assigned to the Gulls and was named the team's captain for the 2022–23 season. He scored nine goals and 23 points in 22 games for the Gulls. ^[10] During the 2023–24 preseason, De Leo suffered a knee injury that kept him out until November 22. On that day, he was placed on waivers by Anaheim and after going unclaimed, was assigned to San Diego. ^[15]

International play

De Leo was a member of Team USA at the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. ^[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2011–12	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		69	14	16	30	25		22	0	1	1	2
2012–13	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		71	18	38	56	24		21	5	12	17	15
2013–14	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		72	39	42	81	36		21	10	9	19	6
2014–15	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		67	39	45	84	30		17	7	12	19	10
2015–16	Manitoba Moose	AHL		73	19	21	40	34		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Manitoba Moose	AHL		69	14	18	32	12		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Manitoba Moose	AHL		69	12	23	35	31		9	2	6	8	0
2018–19	San Diego Gulls	AHL		66	20	35	55	12		16	5	0	5	2
2018–19	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	San Diego Gulls	AHL		51	10	15	25	16		—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	San Diego Gulls	AHL		37	15	20	35	18		3	0	0	0	0
2020–21	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2021–22	Utica Comets	AHL		55	21	35	56	18		5	1	2	3	2
2021–22	New Jersey Devils	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	San Diego Gulls	AHL		22	9	14	23	10		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				7	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2015	United States	WJC	5th		5	1	0	1	0
Junior totals					5	1	0	1	0

References

1. "Chase De Leo". Elite Prospects. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
2. Kopff, Loren (May 13, 2020). "La Mirada Native Chase De Leo Living The Dream Playing For Hometown Anaheim Ducks". Cerritos Community News. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
3. Bunker, Paul (March 28, 2013). "The Winterhawks: Chase De Leo started out as a baseball player until mom stepped in". Oregon Live. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
4. Teaford, Elliott (April 9, 2021). "Ducks lose to Avs in Chase De Leo's long-awaited Honda Center debut". The Orange County Register. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
5. Billeck, Scott (July 9, 2014). "California Dreamin': Chase De Leo Pursues Passion for Hockey All the Way to Winnipeg". My Toba. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
6. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
7. Wiebe, Ken (July 15, 2015). "Versatile Winnipeg Jets prospect Chase De Leo had strong drive to succeed at next level". Winnipeg Sun.
8. "Jets re-assign De Leo & Kosmachuk to Manitoba Moose". Winnipeg Jets. March 24, 2014.^{[ dead link ]}
9. "Ducks acquire De Leo from Winnipeg". Anaheim Ducks. June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018– via NHL.com.
10. "Anaheim Ducks Assign Chase De Leo to San Diego". San Diego Gulls. November 23, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
11. "Devils sign four players to two-way deals". New Jersey Devils. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021– via NHL.com.
12. Manderichio, AJ (January 25, 2021). "Camp Notes: De Leo Embraces Veteran Leader Role, Focus Shifts to Special Teams". San Diego Gulls. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
13. "Ducks sign De Leo, Gawdin, Kirkland, Strand and White to contracts". Anaheim Ducks. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022– via NHL.com.
14. "Wild arrive late due to traffic, beat Devils 3-2 in shootout". ESPN. Associated Press. November 25, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
15. "Ducks' Chase De Leo: Placed on waivers". CBS Sports. November 22, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2024.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database