Dustin Jeffrey

Summary

Dustin Jeffrey (born February 27, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey center who is currently an unrestricted free agent. Jeffrey was drafted as the 171st overall selection in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins.

Dustin Jeffrey
Jeffrey with the Penguins, March 2013.
Born (1988-02-27) February 27, 1988 (age 36)
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
free agent
Pittsburgh Penguins
Dallas Stars
Arizona Coyotes
Lausanne HC
SC Bern
NHL Draft 171st overall, 2007
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 2008–present

Playing career edit

Jeffrey grew up in Courtright, Ontario, playing minor hockey for the Mooretown Flags and the Lambton Jr. Sting AAA teams of the Pavilion League.

On October 9, 2007, Jeffrey signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.[1] He attended training camp with the Penguins in September 2008, and was assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.[2] Jeffrey tallied his first professional point in his second professional game in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on October 11, 2008 against the Philadelphia Phantoms. He scored this goal a minute into the first period on goaltender Jean-Sébastien Aubin.

 
Jeffrey in 2010

Jeffrey made his NHL debut with the Penguins on December 26, 2008. He recorded his first point on December 30 and his first goal on January 1, 2009, both against goaltender Manny Fernandez of the Boston Bruins.[3] He was called as spare for 2009 playoffs. Pittsburgh gave him a Stanley Cup ring, and included him on the team picture. Jeffrey however did not qualify to be included on the Stanley Cup.

Jeffrey played with both the Pittsburgh and their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre multiple times during the 2010-11 NHL season.[4] He played 25 games with the Penguins during the 2010–11 season, scoring seven goals and 12 points in 25 games. His season came to an end on March 24, 2011, when he was placed on the injured reserve due to a "lower body injury" after Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeff Carter fell on Jeffrey's right knee.[5] It was revealed on April 5, 2011 that he had a torn ACL and had undergone surgery; he required six months' worth of rehabilitation and did not return until the start of the 2011–12 season.[6]

On July 12, 2011 Jeffrey signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Penguins worth $575,000 annually at the NHL level.[7] On October 10, 2012, with the NHL lock-out in effect, Jeffrey signed a temporary contract with Croatian club KHL Medveščak Zagreb of the Austrian Hockey League.

On November 17, 2013, Jeffrey was put on waivers by the Penguins and claimed by the Dallas Stars.[8] On June 17, 2014, the Texas Stars won the Calder Cup for the first time in franchise history. Jeffrey wasn't given a qualifying offer before the Restricted Free Agent deadline, from the Stars, making him an unrestricted free agent.

On July 2, 2014, Jeffrey signed a one-year free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks.[9] He was traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for Cory Conacher on March 2, 2015.[10]

On July 1, 2015, Jeffrey continued his journeyman career in signing a one-year, two-way contract as a free agent with the Arizona Coyotes.[11] In the 2015–16 season, Jeffrey maintained his offensive prowess in the AHL with affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. He was recalled by the Coyotes on two occasions appearing in 7 games for a goal and assist. After scoring 46 points in just 45 games, Jeffrey was dealt by the Coyotes alongside Dan O'Donoghue and James Melindy in a return to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization in exchange for Matia Marcantuoni on February 29, 2016. He was directly assigned to continue the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.[12]

On June 3, 2016, Jeffrey left North America and agreed to a two-year contract with Lausanne HC of the National League (NL).[13] On December 20, 2017, Jeffrey agreed to an early two-year contract extension with Lausanne through the 2019–20 season. On November 21, 2019, it was announced that this would be Jeffrey's final season with Lausanne as the team didn't wish to extend his contract. A few days later, on December 4, 2019, Jeffrey agreed to a two-year deal with SC Bern for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 season.

Following the conclusion of his contract with Bern, Jeffrey moved to Germany as a free agent by agreeing to a one-year contract with Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the DEL on July 18, 2022.[14]

On November 17, 2023, Jeffrey was announced as Assistant Coach of the Sarnia Sting.[15]

Career statistics edit

 
Jeffrey with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 53 10 15 25 20
2005–06 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 30 6 9 15 26
2005–06 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 39 12 11 23 10 4 1 2 3 2
2006–07 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 68 34 58 92 40 13 6 12 18 11
2007–08 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 56 38 59 97 30 14 3 8 11 12
2007–08 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 15 2 1 3 4
2008–09 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 63 11 26 37 31 12 5 5 10 8
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 14 1 2 3 0
2009–10 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 77 24 47 71 16 4 0 1 1 6
2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 1 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 40 17 28 45 8
2010–11 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 25 7 5 12 4
2011–12 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 26 4 2 6 2
2011–12 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 2 0 1 1 0
2012–13 KHL Medvescak Zagreb EBEL 20 11 12 23 20
2012–13 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 24 3 3 6 2
2013–14 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 10 0 1 1 2
2013–14 Dallas Stars NHL 24 2 1 3 0
2013–14 Texas Stars AHL 21 4 6 10 2 19 7 5 12 2
2014–15 Utica Comets AHL 49 17 24 41 18
2014–15 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 20 8 15 23 4
2015–16 Springfield Falcons AHL 45 13 33 46 18
2015–16 Arizona Coyotes NHL 7 1 1 2 2
2015–16 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 19 7 11 18 2 10 1 7 8 0
2016–17 Lausanne HC NLA 49 18 28 46 8 4 0 1 1 0
2017–18 Lausanne HC NL 50 13 44 57 4
2018–19 Lausanne HC NL 44 15 31 46 10 8 5 3 8 2
2019–20 Lausanne HC NL 50 12 23 35 2
2020–21 SC Bern NL 48 16 27 43 12 9 0 5 5 4
2021–22 SC Bern NL 23 4 8 12 12
2022–23 Grizzlys Wolfsburg DEL 54 12 41 53 22 14 1 2 3 2
NHL totals 131 18 15 33 12
NL totals 264 78 161 239 48 21 5 9 14 6

Awards and honours edit

Award Year
AHL
All-Star Game 2010, 2016
Calder Cup winner (Texas Stars) 2014
Second All-Star Team 2016 [16]
Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup winner (Team Canada) 2017, 2019
National League
League leader, assists 2018
League leader, points 2018
Swiss Cup winner (SC Bern) 2021

References edit

  1. ^ Molinari, Dave (October 9, 2007). "Penguins sign center to entry-level contract". Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  2. ^ "Pens reduce roster to 42 players". National Hockey League. September 28, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "Bruins extend winning streak to 10". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  4. ^ Yoshe, Josh (January 24, 2011). "Jeffrey's road well traveled". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on January 29, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  5. ^ Shelly Anderson (March 26, 2011). "Penguins Notebook: Orpik expected to return next week". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. ^ Dave Molinari (April 6, 2011). "Penguins beat Devils, 4–2, move a step closer to home ice in playoffs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette`.
  7. ^ "Pens re-sign Dustin Jeffrey". National Hockey League. July 12, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  8. ^ "Stars add depth with waiver claim Jeffrey". National Hockey League. November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  9. ^ "Canucks sign centers Cal O'Reilly, Dustin Jeffrey and Defenesman Bobby Saguinetti". Prince George Citizen. July 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  10. ^ "Islanders Acquire Jeffrey". National Hockey League. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  11. ^ "Coyotes sign Dustin Jeffrey to one-year, two-way contract". Arizona Coyotes. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  12. ^ "Penguins re-acquire forward Dustin Jeffrey". Pittsburgh Penguins. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  13. ^ "Lausanne HC has found their fourth import player in Dustin Jeffrey". swisshockeynews.ch. 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  14. ^ "Top center Dustin Jeffrey to Wolfsburg" (in German). Grizzlys Wolfsburg. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  15. ^ "Sting Announce Dustin Jeffrey as New Assistant Coach". Canadian Hockey League. November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  16. ^ "First, Second Team All-Stars announced". American Hockey League. 2016-04-07. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-04-07.

External links edit

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