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Sam Steel

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For the Canadian soldier and North-West Mounted Policeman, see Sam Steele. For the British politician, see Samuel Strang Steel.

Sam Steel
Born (1998-02-03) February 3, 1998 (age 26)
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 186 lb (84 kg; 13 st 4 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Dallas Stars
Anaheim Ducks
Minnesota Wild
NHL draft 30th overall, 2016
Anaheim Ducks
Playing career 2018–present

Sam Steel (born February 3, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who currently plays for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Steel was selected 30th overall in the 2016 NHL entry draft by the Anaheim Ducks. He also formerly played for the Minnesota Wild.

Playing career

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Junior career

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Steel first played junior hockey as a youth in his hometown of Sherwood Park, Alberta. While playing for and captaining the Sherwood Park AAA Flyers, Steel was selected with the second overall pick in the 2013 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam draft by the Regina Pats.[1] On August 28, 2013, he signed a standard player contract with the Pats.[2] After appearing with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), Steel completed the 2013–14 season by making his WHL debut with the Regina Pats, featuring in five games. The following season he finished with 54 points in 61 games as the Pats retooled and made Steel and other young players the focus of their team.[3]

In the 2015–16 season, Steel put up 70 points.[3] After an impressive 2016–17 season in which he led the WHL in scoring, Steel was awarded the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as WHL Player of the Year and the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league's points leader.[4] The Pats went to the WHL final, but lost to the Seattle Thunderbirds. In his final season with the Pats, Steel was named the Pats' captain.[3] As a member of the 2018 Memorial Cup host team, and despite a 1–2 round robin record, Steel led the hosts to the final, ultimately losing the national championship game 0–3 to Acadie-Bathurst Titan.[5] While not on the championship winning team, Steel was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as Tournament MVP,[5] and Ed Chynoweth Trophy as leading scorer (2 goals, 11 assists).[6]

Professional career

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After the completion of his second full major junior season with Regina in 2015–16, Steel was selected by the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the same position he was ranked by the NHL Central Scouting, as the final pick of the first round (30th overall) of the 2016 NHL entry draft. The Ducks previously traded goaltender Frederik Andersen to the Toronto Maple Leafs to obtain the selection used to select Steel.[7] On December 21, 2016, Steel signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Anaheim.[8]

Steel joined the Ducks for their 2018–19 season, making his NHL debut on October 3 in a game against the San Jose Sharks.[9] He recorded his first career NHL goal in a 4–2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on October 21.[10] Steel recorded his first career NHL hat-trick in a 5–4 win over the Vancouver Canucks on March 26, 2019, becoming the youngest player in Ducks history to score a regular season hat-trick.[11] A restricted free agent at the end of his contract, the Ducks did not extend a qualifying offer to retain his rights and Steel became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2022.[12]

On August 30, 2022, it was announced that Steel had signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Wild.[13] In the following 2022–23 season Steel had a breakout season with the Wild, playing alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.[12] Steel established new career highs offensively in registering 10 goals, 18 assists for 28 points through 65 regular season games. As a pending restricted free agent, Steel was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Wild due to salary cap considerations on June 29, 2023.[14]

Released as an unrestricted free agent, Steel was promptly signed at the opening of free agent frenzy to a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Dallas Stars on July 1, 2023.[15] In his first season in Dallas, Steel had 24 points in 77 games and added 5 more points in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. At the end of the season he was once again a restricted free agent and, once again, did not receive a qualifying offer. However, before he could become an unrestricted free agent, he signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract to remain with Dallas on June 30, 2024.[16]

International play

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Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 United States
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
Gold medal – first place 2015 Břeclav/Bratislava

In August 2015, he was a member of the gold medal Canadian Junior team at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament held in Břeclav, Czech Republic.[17] On December 15, 2017, Steel was named to the 22-man roster to represent Canada at the IIHF World U20 Championship.[18][19] Canada and Team USA took part in the first outdoor game in the World U20 Championship history during the tournament at New Era Arena, Orchard Park, New York. The game was tied after regulation time and Steel was among the players selected by Canada for the shootout to decide the game. Steel was one of three Canadians who missed and Canada lost to Team USA.[20] However, Canada went on to win the gold medal as tournament champions, beating Sweden 3–1 in the final.[21]

Personal life

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Steel grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta and was friends with former NHL goaltender Carter Hart as a child. Steel's older brother Patrick also played hockey. While playing hockey for the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL, Patrick died from an undetected heart problem.[3]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Sherwood Park Crusaders AJHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Regina Pats WHL 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
2014–15 Regina Pats WHL 61 17 37 54 16 — — — — —
2015–16 Regina Pats WHL 72 23 47 70 24 12 6 10 16 4
2016–17 Regina Pats WHL 66 50 81 131 40 23 11 19 30 8
2017–18 Regina Pats WHL 54 33 50 83 18 7 1 10 11 2
2018–19 Anaheim Ducks NHL 22 6 5 11 8 — — — — —
2018–19 San Diego Gulls AHL 53 20 21 41 24 16 6 7 13 8
2019–20 Anaheim Ducks NHL 65 6 16 22 20 — — — — —
2020–21 Anaheim Ducks NHL 42 6 6 12 8 — — — — —
2021–22 Anaheim Ducks NHL 68 6 14 20 16 — — — — —
2022–23 Minnesota Wild NHL 65 10 18 28 18 5 1 1 2 2
2023–24 Dallas Stars NHL 77 9 15 24 29 19 1 4 5 2
NHL totals 339 43 74 117 99 24 2 5 7 4

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada Black U17 7th 5 1 2 3 4
2015 Canada IH18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 1 2 3 2
2018 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 4 5 9 0
Junior totals 16 6 9 15 6

Awards and honours

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Award Year
WHL
CHL Top Prospects Game 2016
East First All-Star Team 2017
Bob Clarke Trophy 2017
Four Broncos Memorial Trophy 2017
CHL Top Scorer Award 2017
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy 2018

References

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  1. ^ Jones, Shane (May 6, 2013). "Sam Steel snapped up second". The Sherwood Park – Strathcona County News. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "Pats sign prospect Sam Steel". Regina Pats. 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  3. ^ a b c d Nugent-Bowman, Daniel (February 16, 2018). "Regina Pats captain Sam Steel always ready for his next challenge". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Harder, Greg (2017-05-03). "Big day for Pats at WHL awards presentations". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  5. ^ a b McKenna, Ryan (May 27, 2018). "Acadie-Bathurst Titan win Memorial Cup". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  6. ^ "Memorial Cup Top Scorers: Steel, Draisaitl, Benn headline WHL winners of Ed Chynoweth Trophy". Regina Pats. May 22, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024 – via CHL.ca.
  7. ^ "Ducks select Max Jones, Sam Steel in first round of 2016 draft". Anaheim Ducks. 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-24 – via NHL.com.
  8. ^ "Ducks sign Steel to three-year, entry-level contract". Anaheim Ducks. 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-21 – via NHL.com.
  9. ^ Gilmore, Eric (October 4, 2018). "Rakell, Silfverberg help Ducks spoil Karlsson's Sharks debut". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 7, 2018. Forwards Sam Steel and Kiefer Sherwood each made his NHL debut for Anaheim
  10. ^ Arritt, Dan (October 22, 2018). "Sabres rally, finish road trip with win against Ducks". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  11. ^ "Ducks rookie Sam Steel notches first hat trick in win over Canucks". Sportsnet. The Canadian Press. March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Vanstone, Rob (January 19, 2023). "Signing Sam Steel was a great deal for Minnesota Wild". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  13. ^ "Minnesota Wild Signs Center Sam Steel to a One-Year Contract". Minnesota Wild. 29 September 2023 – via NHL.com.
  14. ^ Heckmann, Adam (June 24, 2023). "Report: Minnesota Wild Unlikely To Re-Sign Sam Steel". The Hockey News. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "Stars sign forward Sam Steel to a one-year contract". Dallas Stars. July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  16. ^ Assimakopoulos, Lia (June 30, 2024). "After not receiving qualifying offer, Sam Steel re-signs one-year deal with Stars". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  17. ^ "Steel, Howden part of under-18 hockey victory". Regina Leader-Post. August 17, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  18. ^ "Steel cracks Team Canada, Mahura cut". Regina Leader-Post. 15 December 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "Canadian Roster Set for 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship". St. Catharines, Ontario: Hockey Canada. December 16, 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  20. ^ Chidley-Hill, Jonah (December 29, 2017). "World juniors: U.S. comes back to beat Canada in Buffalo blizzard". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  21. ^ "Sam Steel wins gold with Canada at 2018 World Junior Championship". Regina Pats. January 5, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2024 – via CHL.ca.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Anaheim Ducks first round draft pick
2016 		Succeeded by
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