Rūdolfs Balcers

Rūdolfs Balcers
Born (1997-04-08) 8 April 1997
Liepāja, Latvia
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Former teams		 Ottawa Senators
Belleville Senators (AHL)
Stavanger Oilers
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft 142nd overall, 2015
San Jose Sharks
Playing career 2014–present

Rūdolfs Balcers (born 8 April 1997) is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with the Belleville Senators in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 142nd overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks.[1][2]

Playing career

As a junior, Balcers played in Norway with Lørenskog until joining the Stavanger Oilers in the 2013–14 season.[3] Balcers recorded an impressive rookie campaign with the Oilers in the 2014–15 season, scoring 21 points in 38 regular season as the club won the Championship. Showing promising scoring talent as a 18-year old, Balcers was one of three Latvian selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

After three seasons with Stavanger Oilers he moved to continue his development in North America, joining major junior club the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the 2016–17 season. Balcers made a seamless transition to the WHL appearing in 66 games with the Blazers, finishing with 40 goals, the most amongst rookies in the league.

Having experienced a successful season with Blazers, he was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with his draft team, the San Jose Sharks, on 13 July 2017.[4] After attending the Sharks 2017 training camp, he was assigned by the Sharks to begin his North American professional career with AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.[5] In the 2017–18 season, Balcers continued to show his scoring prowess in leading the Barrcuda with 23 goals, 25 assists and 48 points in 67 games. He was selected to represent the Barracuda at the 2018 All-Star Classic.[6]

In September 2018, Balcers was traded by the Sharks to the Ottawa Senators as part of the package of players, prospects and trades for Erik Karlsson.[7]

International play

After representing Latvia at the junior level, Balcers was selected by head coach, Bob Hartley, for 2018 World Championships roster.[8] In his senior debut game against Norway, he scored two goals including the OT winner.[9][10]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Stavanger Oilers GET 20110 —————
2014–15 Stavanger Oilers GET 36813218 —————
2015–16 Stavanger Oilers GET 431592416 1764104
2016–17 Kamloops Blazers WHL 6640377716 62130
2017–18 San Jose Barracuda AHL 6723254812 42246
AHL totals 6723254812 42246
Balcers at the 2018 AHL All Star Classic.

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2015 Latvia WJC18 9th 6 2 4 6 2
2017 Latvia WJC 10th 6 1 1 2 12
2018 Latvia WC 8th 8 4 2 6 0
Junior totals 39 12 21 33 22
Senior totals 8 4 2 6 0

Awards and honours

Award Year
GET
Champions (Stavanger Oilers) 2015, 2016
AHL
All-Star Game 2018 [6]

References

  1. ↑ NHL. "San Jose Sharks 2015 draft 5nd round selections". nhl.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. ↑ eliteprospects. "San Jose Penguins 2015 draft elections". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. ↑ eliteprospects. "Stavanger Oilers 2013–14 season roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  4. ↑ San Jose Sharks (13 July 2017). "Sharks Sign Forward Rudolfs Balcers to Entry-Level Contract". nhl.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  5. ↑ AHL. "San Jose Barracuda 2017–18 season roster". American Hockey League. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Barracuda rookie Balcers added to the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic". San Jose Barracuda. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ottawa Senators complete most important trade in rebuild". NHL.com. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. ↑ DELFI sports (2 May 2018). "Paziņots Latvijas hokeja izlases kaujas sastāvs pasaules čempionātam" (in Latvian). delfi.lv. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  9. ↑ iihf (5 May 2018). "NOR vs LAT play-by-play". iihf. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. ↑ iihf (5 May 2018). "Team LAT match stats". iihf. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.