Jordan Kawaguchi (born May 4, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing with the

Idaho Steelheads The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, th ...

in the

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 ...

while under contract with the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the t ...

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).

Early life

Kawaguchi was born on May 4, 1997, in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, adjacent to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With an estimated population of 153,524 people it is the largest municipality in the province outside metrop ...

to parents Todd and Brandy Kawaguchi. His father Todd was the only son of Japanese immigrant parents and he played college ice hockey at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. He is the cousin of

Devin Setoguchi Devin Setoguchi (born January 1, 1987) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. He had most recently played under contract for Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Setoguchi is half- Yonsei (fourth-generation ...

, who played nine seasons 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 ...

Playing career

Growing up in British Columbia, Kawaguchi played for the Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association before joining the U15 Pursuit of Excellence prep program in Kelowna. While playing with the U15 prep team, he recorded 57 goals and 74 assists for 131 points in 43 games and was named Tournament MVP at the Kamloops International Ice Hockey Tournament. As a result, Kawaguchi was drafted in the fourth round, 80th overall, by the

Spokane Chiefs The Spokane Chiefs are a major junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League based out of Spokane, Washington. The team plays its home games at the Spokane Arena. Their uniforms are similar to those of the NHL's Montreal Canadi ...

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) Bantam Draft. However, he committed to play for the

Chilliwack Chiefs The Chilliwack Chiefs are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Chilliwack Coliseum wh ...

in the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

(BCHL) for the 2012–13 season, where he recorded nine goals and nine assists as the team finished last in the Mainland Division. Kawaguchi spent four complete seasons with the Chiefs, where he increased his offensive output from his rookie season. He finished his BCHL career with 120 goals and 242 points in 213 career games while also earning BCHL All-Star honors. Kawaguchi originally committed to play collegiate ice hockey with

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

but changed to the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

of the

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...

. After his junior season with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Kawaguchi was named to the AHCA First All-American Team. Kawaguchi was named captain in his senior season with the Fighting Hawks, leading the team in scoring and placing fourth in the NCAA with 36 points through 28 games in the shortened

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 ...

season. As an undrafted free agent, Kawaguchi turned professional in agreeing to a one-year, entry-level contract with the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

on March 31, 2021. He was assigned by the Stars to join AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. On August 1, 2022, Kawaguchi as a free agent opted to remain within the Stars organization by signing a one-year AHL contract to continue with the Texas Stars for the

2022–23 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 ...

season.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian ice hockey centres Chilliwack Chiefs players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players Sportspeople from Abbotsford, British Columbia Texas Stars players West Kelowna Warriors players {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1990s-stub