Clay Daniel Wilson (born April 5, 1983) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former 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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He played 36 games in 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) for the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

Playing career

Clay Wilson played collegiate hockey for

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

from 2001 until 2005. After the 2004–05 collegiate season ended, he turned professional with the Muskegon Fury of the UHL. He played parts of two seasons with Muskegon before joining the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey, hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National H ...

of the AHL. After the 2005–06 season, he was signed as a free agent by 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. ...

of the NHL. He played for the Ducks' AHL affiliate, the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...

before being traded to the

of the NHL in November 2007. Wilson made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets on March 25, 2008, against the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. He scored his first NHL goal and assist on March 26, 2008 in a game against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

, earning him first star honors in only his second NHL game. On January 14, 2009, Wilson was traded by the Blue Jackets, along with a 6th round draft pick, to the

for Jason Williams. Wilson signed a two-year,

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

on July 2, 2009. Wilson was then assigned to AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, for the majority of the 2009–10 season before making his Panthers debut on April 3, 2010 against the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. Although appearing in only two NHL games, Clay scored an impressive 60 points in 75 games with the Americans to be named to the AHL's Second All-Star Team. The

signed Wilson to a two-way deal for the 2011–12 season. He spent the majority of it with the

Abbotsford Heat The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat A ...

of the AHL, but appeared in five games with Calgary. He had a one-way deal with the Flames for 2012–13, but was expected to again spend most of the season in Abbotsford. Wilson instead chose to leave the Flames organization, signing with

HC Donbass Hockey Club Donbass ( uk, Хокейний Клуб Донбас; russian: link=no, Хоккейный Клуб Донбасс, '' tr. Hokeinyi Klub Donbas'') is a Ukrainian professional ice hockey team based in Druzhkivka, currently playing in th ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). The Flames terminated his NHL contract. He won the 2012–13 IIHF Continental Cup with

and was named the best defender in the tournament. He was named best defender again in 2014. Wilson was re-signed by Donbass to a further two-year contract extension, however with civil unrest in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

forcing Donbass to suspend operations for the 2014–15 season, Wilson signed a one-year contract with expansion club, HC Sochi on July 1, 2014. He then had his contract renewed for a second season. Following the 2015-16 campaign, he left Sochi, moving on to fellow KHL outfit

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey team based in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel ...

. After moving to Sweden to play in the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...

with

AIK IF Allmänna Idrottsklubben Ishockeyförening (abbreviated ''AIK IF'', also known as ''AIK Hockey'', often abbreviated ''AIK'' in hockey subjects), is the ice hockey department of sports club Allmänna Idrottsklubben based in Stockholm, Sweden. Sin ...

for the 2017–18 season, Wilson ended his 13-year professional career in accepting an assistant coach role in a return to

Donbass The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

, with

on October 16, 2018.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Clay 1983 births Living people AIK IF players American men's ice hockey defensemen Atlanta Thrashers players Calgary Flames players Chicago Wolves players Columbus Blue Jackets players HC Donbass players Florida Panthers players Grand Rapids Griffins players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey players Muskegon Fury players People from Pine County, Minnesota Portland Pirates players Rochester Americans players Severstal Cherepovets players HC Sochi players Syracuse Crunch players Undrafted National Hockey League players