Curtis Valk (born February 8, 1993) 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 ...

- Kazakhstani 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He is currently playing with

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg HC Avtomobilist (russian: Автомобилист Екатеринбург) are a professional ice hockey team based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. They replaced Khimik Voskresensk in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2009. Histor ...

in 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). He has formerly played 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) with 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 ...

Playing career

Valk played major junior hockey for his hometown team, the

Medicine Hat Tigers The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...

in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL). Valk, who played in the WHL from the 2010–11 season, was rewarded for his outstanding performance during the

2012–13 WHL season The 2012–13 WHL season is the 47th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began in September 2012 and ended in March 2013. The playoffs began in late March 2013 following the regular season and ended in mid-May 2013, with ...

by being named to the 2013 WHL East First All-Star Team. As an undrafted free agent embarking on his first professional season, Valk was invited to participate in the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

2014 training camp on September 21, 2014. He was later demoted to AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, where he signed a one-year contract on October 10, 2014. He was immediately re-assigned to

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

affiliate, the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

to begin the 2014–15 season. On July 1, 2017, Valk signed as a free agent to a one-year, entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers. During training camp, Valk was re-assigned by the Panthers to begin the 2017–18 season with AHL affiliate, the

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; fren ...

. Through the first 16 games of the season, Valk impressed to lead the team in scoring with 15 points. On November 13, 2017, he received his first recall by the Panthers to the NHL, and made his NHL debut on November 14, 2017. After a solitary game with the Panthers, Valk was returned to the Thunderbirds and played out the season in collecting a career best 62 points in 73 games. As a restricted free agent with the Panthers, Valk opted to pause his North American career in signing a one-year contract with Kazahkstani club, Barys Astana of the KHL on July 3, 2018. Following four seasons with Barys, Valk as a dual Kazakhstani citizen left to sign a two-year contract to continue in the KHL with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg on May 1, 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valk, Curtis 1993 births Living people Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Barys Nur-Sultan players Brooks Bandits players Canadian ice hockey centres Florida Panthers players Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) players Medicine Hat Tigers players Springfield Thunderbirds players Undrafted National Hockey League players Utica Comets players Naturalised citizens of Kazakhstan Kazakhstani ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Medicine Hat Kazakhstani people of Canadian descent