Andrew Poturalski (born January 14, 1994) is an American 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 ...

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currently playing with the

Coachella Valley Firebirds The Coachella Valley Firebirds are a professional ice hockey expansion team based in Thousand Palms, California, that began play in the 2022–23 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the Seattle Kra ...

in the

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) while under contract to the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

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 is a two time winner of the American Hockey League (AHL)

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. He is also a two-time AHL Point scoring Title winner having won the award consecutively in

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

and 2021–22.

Early life

Poturalski was born on January 14, 1994, in

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical ...

to parents Joseph and Diane. His mother formerly played softball at Iowa and Erie Community College while his father is a football officiator. Poturalski originally wished to play goaltender but his parents convinced him to be a skater due to the price of goalie equipment.

Playing career

Amateur

Growing up in New York, Poturalski played midget ice hockey with the Wheatfield Blades under former NHL player Peter Scamurra. He then enrolled at

Nichols School Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college- preparatory day school in Buffalo, New York, United States. The average enrollment is 570 students with an average Upper School grade/class size of 98 students. The average ...

and played on their varsity ice hockey team in the

Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Athletic Association The Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Athletic Association, or CISAA, is a sports conference for various private schools located primarily in the southern part of the province of Ontario. Many of the institutions are located in or near th ...

for three seasons. While attending Nichols School in 2011, Poturalski joined the

Ontario Junior Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best ...

Buffalo Jr. Sabres The Buffalo Jr. Sabres are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Buffalo, New York. They are a part of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League. Its current head coach and general manager is Nick Tuzzolino, who played in the organization during its Buffalo ...

. Early in his rookie season, he confirmed his commitment to join the

New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East. They play at th ...

for the 2013–14 Hockey East season. By the end of October, Poturalski was named to the NHL Central Scouting preliminary "Watch List" for the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top th ...

. At the time, he was tied for fourth in OJHL in scoring with 27 points as well as third with 17 assists. Poturalski finished the 2011–12 OJHL season with 16 goals and 22 assists in 33 regular season games before being loaned to the

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Before moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1999, the team was based in Mason City, where they were known as the North Iowa Huskies ...

in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

. However, after playing in two games and recording three points, Poturalski's season was cut short due to a broken ankle. He then broke his fibula in a "freak on-ice accident" as he prepared over the summer for the following season. After rehabbing his ankle, Poturalski made his 2012–13 USHL season debut mid-October and immediately scored three goals and recorded two assists. His first goal proved to be the game-winner in a 4–3 victory over the

Indiana Ice The Indiana Ice was a Tier I junior ice hockey team and member club of the United States Hockey League (USHL) that was formed in 2004 when the Danville Wings were purchased and moved from their location in Danville, Illinois, to Indianapolis, I ...

while he then collected a career-high four points in a 7–5 win. As a result, Poturalski was named the co-recipient of the CCM Forward of the Week on October 23.

College

In his sophomore season with the Wildcats in 2015–16, Poturalski led the team and conference in scoring with 52 points in just 37 games. Earning select to the East First-Star Team and named as a finalist for the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

, Poturalski opted to leave college early to pursue a professional career, in agreeing to a two-year entry-level contract with the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

on March 9, 2016.

Professional

During his first full professional season in 2016–17, Poturalski was initially assigned to AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Poturalski was leading the club in assists and scoring when he received his first recall to the NHL by the Hurricanes on April 4, 2017. He made his debut that night in a 5–3 defeat to the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. After two games with the Hurricanes, Poturalski was returned to Charlotte to play out the remainder of the year. Following that season, Poturalski was invited to the Hurricanes training camp but began the 2017–18 season with the Checkers after being cut. File-Andrew Poturalski 2019 5

In the 2018–19 season, had a stand out season with the league leading Charlotte Checkers, scoring 23 goals and 70 points in 72 games, to earning a selection to the AHL Second All-Star Team. In the post-season, he led the Checkers to the 2019 Calder Cup Championship after collecting 12 goals and 23 points. Poturalski was named the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the playoffs MVP after leading all skaters in points and goals. On July 2, 2019, Poturalski left the Hurricanes organization as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

. After a successful stint in the AHL with the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

, Poturalski returned to the Hurricanes as a free agent, signing a one-year, two-way contract on August 11, 2021. As a free agent at the conclusion of his contract with the Hurricanes, Poturalski was signed to a two-year, $1.525 million contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 13, 2022.

Personal life

Poturalski and his wife Haley have one son together.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poturalski, Andrew 1994 births AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey centers Carolina Hurricanes players Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players Chicago Wolves players Coachella Valley Firebirds players Living people New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey players San Diego Gulls (AHL) players Undrafted National Hockey League players