Mark Alexander Fraser (born September 29, 1986) 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 ...

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 ...

. He played for the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

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).

Playing career

Fraser played junior hockey with 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 ...

of 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 overag ...

from 2004–06. In his second season with the Rangers, his hard working style earned him the captaincy after

Mike Richards Michael Richards (born 1949) is an American actor best known for playing Cosmo Kramer in ''Seinfeld''. Michael Richards or Mike Richards may also refer to the following people: Arts and entertainment *Mike Richards (television personality) (born ...

left the team. He was selected by the

in the third round, 84th overall, of the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he played his first professional games, joining the AHL

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

for four games. He played his first full professional season in 2006–07 with the

Lowell Devils The Lowell Devils were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey L ...

, and he played seven games for the New Jersey Devils as well. He remained with Lowell until 2009–10, when he made the New Jersey roster out of training camp. He scored his first NHL goal on October 24, 2009, against

Marc-André Fleury Marc-André Fleury (born November 28, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) List of first overall NHL draf ...

of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. On December 12, 2011, Fraser, along with

Rod Pelley Rod Pelley (born September 1, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. After his collegiate career, Pelley signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils, and was with the organization from 2006 to 2011. He was traded to the ...

and a 2012 seventh round draft pick, was traded to 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. ...

in exchange for

Kurtis Foster Kurtis Foster (born November 24, 1981) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 408 career games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Junior hockey Peterborough Petes (1997–2002) F ...

and

Timo Pielmeier Timo Pielmeier (born July 7, 1989) is a German professional ice hockey goaltender, currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played with ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He was a third-round selection of the San Jo ...

. On February 27, 2012, Fraser was traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Dale Mitchell. On July 30, 2013, Fraser and the

avoided salary arbitration and agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.275 million. In the following 2013–14 season, Fraser was unable to match his performance from the lockout season and on January 31, 2014, he was traded by the Leafs to the

in exchange for the rights to

Teemu Hartikainen Teemu Hartikainen (born 3 May 1990) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). Playing career In nine games with the KalPa U18 squad in 2006–07, the winger tallie ...

and Cam Abney. A free agent into the 2014–15 season, Fraser made a return of sort to the New Jersey Devils organization in signing a one-year AHL contract with affiliate, the Albany Devils on November 2, 2014. He was later signed for the remainder of the season on an NHL contract with the Devils on December 18, 2014. Fraser's return was complete on January 3, 2015 when he played with New Jersey Devils against

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 ...

. Fraser was not tendered an offer by the Devils and was released to free agency. Left without a contract by September, he would make a return to the Leafs, signing a professional try-out. He would ultimately be released without a deal. On September 28, 2015, the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

signed Fraser to a one-year, two-way contract. After one year playing for the team's AHL affiliate, the

Binghamton Senators The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

, he left as a free agent and returned to the Edmonton Oilers on a one-year, two-way deal on July 1, 2016. As an un-signed free agent leading into the 2017–18 season, Fraser opted to pursue a career abroad, agreeing to an initial try-out offer with

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

outfit

HC TPS TPS or Turun Palloseura is an ice hockey team and 10-time champion of SM-liiga and 1-time champion of SM-sarja. They play in Turku, Finland, at Gatorade Center. In terms of championships, TPS is the second all-time most successful team in SM-L ...

of the

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

on November 16, 2017. After a second season abroad in the

Slovak Extraliga The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From the 2018–19 season to the 2020–21 season, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. In 2009, it was ranked by the IIHF as the fifth stro ...

with HKm Zvolen, Fraser signed a one-year contract for the 2019-20 season with German outfit, Schwenninger Wild Wings of the DEL on May 6, 2019.

Personal

Fraser is the son of former sprinter and Ontario Court of Justice Judge, Hugh Fraser, and retired teacher Ann Kennedy. After his playing career came to a close, Fraser was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in February of 2021 "for a role focused on player development with its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team."

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Mark 1986 births Living people Albany Devils players Albany River Rats players Bakersfield Condors players Black Canadian ice hockey players Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from Ottawa Kitchener Rangers players Lowell Devils players New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players Syracuse Crunch players HC TPS players Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlies players HKM Zvolen players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland