Kirill Alekseevich Safronov (russian: Кирилл Алексеевич Сафронов; born 26 February 1981) is a Russian 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 ...

defenceman 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 ...

Playing career

Safronov was selected in the first round, 19th overall, by the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

. Drafted from the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

SKA Saint Petersburg The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...

, Safronov made his North American debut with the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

(QMJHL) in the 1999–2000 season. After one season with the Remparts, he joined the Coyotes'

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) affiliate, the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ar ...

. Safronov appeared in one game with the Coyotes during the 2001–02 season before being traded to the

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 ...

(along with

Ruslan Zainullin Ruslan Faritovich Zainullin (russian: Руслан Фаритович Зайнуллин; born 14 February 1982) is a Russian professional ice hockey center currently playing for Kuban Krasnodar of the Russian second tier Higher Hockey League ...

and a draft pick) in exchange for

Darcy Hordichuk Darcy Hordichuk (born August 10, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He has previously played for the Vancouver Canucks, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers. Pla ...

and two draft picks. Safronov appeared in two games with the Thrashers in 2001–02, in-between winning the

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 ...

with their AHL affiliate, the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

, and 32 more in 2002–03 season before being traded to 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 ...

(along with

Simon Gamache Simon Gamache (born January 3, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career As a youth, Gamache played in the 1995 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a m ...

) for

Ben Simon Benjamin Clarke Simon (born June 14, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets between 2001 and 2006. He was the head coach of th ...

and

Tomáš Klouček Tomáš Klouček (born March 7, 1980 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and the Atlanta Thrashers between 2000 and ...

. He spent the remainder of the season with the Predators' AHL affiliate, the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

, winning another Calder Cup. Safronov returned to Russia during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

and played there until retiring in 2015.

Awards

*Awarded the

Raymond Lagacé Trophy The Raymond Lagacé Trophy is awarded annually to the Defensive Rookie of the Year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Prior to 1980, there was only one Rookie of the Year trophy, the Michel Bergeron Trophy The Michel Bergeron Trophy is awar ...

(

QMJHL The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

defensive rookie of the year) in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. *2x

champion (

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * 1981 births Amur Khabarovsk players Atlanta Thrashers players Chicago Wolves players HC Khimik Voskresensk players HC Lada Togliatti players HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players HC Yugra players HKM Zvolen players Living people Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Milwaukee Admirals players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Phoenix Coyotes players Quebec Remparts players SKA Saint Petersburg players Ice hockey people from Saint Petersburg Springfield Falcons players Arizona Coyotes draft picks Russian ice hockey defencemen Russian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Russian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Russian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Russian expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia Expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland {{Russia-icehockey-defenceman-stub