Alex Formenton (born September 13, 1999) is a Canadian professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
left winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
currently playing for
HC Ambrì-Piotta
Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...
of the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL) with his NHL rights being held by the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, by the Senators in the
2017 NHL Entry Draft
The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the ...
.
Playing career
Formenton was drafted by the major junior
London Knights
The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...
in the 2015
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...
Priority Draft in the eleventh round, 216th overall. In 2016, Formenton formally joined the Knights and recorded 16 goals and 34 points in 65 games. On the basis of that season, the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
selected him in the second round of the
2017 NHL Entry Draft
The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the ...
, 47th overall.
Formenton was invited to the Ottawa Senators main training camp after attending its development camp in the summer of 2017. At the end of training camp, Ottawa retained him on its NHL roster to open the
2017–18 season and signed him to a three-year entry-level contract. Formenton made his NHL debut on October 7, 2017, becoming the youngest player to play a game for the contemporary Ottawa Senators. He was a healthy scratch after that game, and on October 15, he was returned by the Senators to continue his development with the London Knights. After the
2017–18 OHL season
The 2017–18 OHL season was the 38th season of the Ontario Hockey League, in which twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 21, 2017 to March 18, 2018. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds accomplishe ...
, Formenton was reassigned to the
Belleville Senators
The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Bellevill ...
, the Senators
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) affiliate.
Formenton earned a spot on the Senators'
2018–19 roster. On October 30, Formenton scored his first career NHL goal against
Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...
' goaltender
Antti Raanta
Antti Raanta (born 12 May 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raanta was initially signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent. H ...
in a 5–1 loss. After nine games with the club, Formenton was assigned to the Knights.
After making the Senators out of training camp for two straight seasons, but failing to stick with the team, for the
2019–20 season, Formenton was assigned to Belleville to help round out his game. Before the season was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Formenton scored 27 goals and 53 points in 61 games with Belleville.
He was named to the AHL's All-Rookie Team alongside teammate
Josh Norris
Joshua Norris (born May 5, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks and ...
.
Formenton played with Ottawa for the
2021–22 season, establishing himself as a solid
penalty kill
Short-handed is a term used in ice hockey and several related sports, including water polo, and refers to having fewer skaters (players) on the ice during play, as a result of a penalty. The player removed from play serves the penalty in the pen ...
er. In November, Formenton contracted
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. He finished the season with 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games.
After his contract expired after the 2021–22 season, the Senators and Formenton could not agree to terms on a new contract. Remaining un-signed and later becoming ineligible to appear in the
2022–23 NHL season
The 2022–23 NHL season is the 106th season of operation (105th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on October 7, 2022, when the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators played the first of two games ...
, Formenton belatedly signed abroad for the remainder of the season with Swiss club,
HC Ambrì-Piotta
Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...
of the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL), on December 14, 2022.
International play
Formenton, along with teammate
Robert Thomas, was selected to represent Canada at the
2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 42nd edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, and was hosted by the city of Buffalo, New York at the KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. It opened on December 26, 2017 and closed with ...
, where he helped them win a gold medal.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and honors
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Formenton, Alex
1999 births
HC Ambrì-Piotta players
Belleville Senators players
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Living people
London Knights players
Ottawa Senators draft picks
Ottawa Senators players
Sportspeople from King, Ontario