Connor Bunnaman (born April 16, 1998) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

currently playing for the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

of 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

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 ...

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). Bunnaman played in the

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 overa ...

for the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

before being drafted by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

in the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

Early life

Bunnaman was born on April 16, 1998, in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

Playing career

Junior

Growing up, Bunnaman played for the Guelph Jr. Gryphons U16 AAA in the South Central Triple-A Hockey League U16. Following this, he was named to Team OMHA White, where he competed at the OHL Gold Cup U-16 tournament and earned an invitation to Canada’s national under-17 development camp. He was subsequently drafted 31st overall in the 2014

(OHL) draft by the

. He scored his first career OHL goal during a 6–5 win over the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

off an assist from Mike Davies on October 13, 2014. As the Rangers began their playoff berth against the

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 ...

, he recorded his first post-season goal during Game 2. Bunnaman was drafted in the fourth round, 109th overall, by the

in the

. Upon being drafted, Bunnaman stated that he felt he would fit in well with the team because he considered himself "a two-way, power forward. I create space well for others so I think I fit into their system well." Prior to the 2017–18 season, Bunnaman signed an entry-level contract with the team and was invited to participate in the Flyers' training camp. Upon returning, Bunnaman was named captain of the Kitchener Rangers alongside alternate captains Adam Mascherin, Connor Hall and Jake Henderson. At the night of the announcement, Bunnaman also played in his 200th career OHL game, tying Barry Duench for 41st place in franchise history for regular-season games played.

Professional

Philadelphia Flyers

Upon concluding his major junior ice hockey career, Bunnaman joined the Flyers'

(AHL) affiliate, the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey L ...

, for the 2018–19 season. He recorded his first professional goal on October 28, 2018, in a 3–1 loss against the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

. After a slow start to the season, Bunnaman was moved to the teams' first line after

Phil Varone Phil Varone (born October 15, 1967) is an American drummer. He is a founding and former member of the band Saigon Kick from 1988–1996 and from 2012–2015. While out of Saigon Kick for several years, some of which Saigon Kick wasn't active ...

was recalled by the Flyers and played alongside Greg Carey and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel. By December, he had a goal-scoring streak of three games and recorded the game winning goal during a game against 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 ...

. Bunnaman ended the season with 32 points in 62 games. After participating in the Flyers' 2019 training camp, Bunnaman made his NHL debut on October 4, 2019, skating 11:06 minutes and recording two shots on goal. He split the 2019-20 season between the Flyers and the Phantoms, but recorded his first career NHL goal on January 13, 2020, against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. He also joined the Flyers for the 2020 playoffs in Toronto.

Florida Panthers

On March 19, 2022, Bunnaman was involved in a trade that sent him along with

Claude Giroux Claude Giroux (; born January 12, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panth ...

German Rubtsov German Alexandrovich Rubtsov (russian: Герман Александрович Рубцов; born 27 June 1998) is a Russian professional ice hockey player. He is currently under contract with HC Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (K ...

, and a draft pick to the

in exchange for Owen Tippett and some draft picks.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunnaman, Connor 1998 births Canadian ice hockey centres Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kitchener Rangers players Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Living people Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Sportspeople from Guelph