Nathan Paetsch (born March 30, 1983) 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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who 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

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

and

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

Playing career

Paetsch was originally drafted in the 2nd round, 52nd overall, in 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals. However, the Capitals were unable to reach a contract agreement with him, so he was put back into the draft in 2003. Paetsch was re-drafted in the seventh round, 202nd overall, by the Sabres in the

2003 NHL Entry Draft The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was the 41st NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21 and 22, 2003. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This wa ...

. Paetsch stepped into full-time WHL duty with the

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...

as a 16-year-old in 1999. Paetsch was named Moose Jaw's defenceman of the year and playoff MVP after the 2000–01 season. Paetsch has also played in several national tournaments, including the 2000 Under-17 Championships and the 2000 Under-18 Four Nations Cup. In addition, he played for Team Cherry in the 2001

CHL Top Prospects Game The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game environment. Players are able to boost their draft ranking w ...

. Paetsch played his first professional season in 2003–04 with the Sabres AHL affiliate, the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

. During the 2005–06 season, Paetsch played his first NHL game on January 7, 2006, for the Sabres and he recorded his first NHL point. Paetsch was then returned to the Americans, for the remainder of the season. Due to a plethora of injuries to defensemen during the

2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League (NHL) championship began on April 21, 2006, following the 2005–06 regular season. This was the first playoffs since 2004 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that cancelled the previousl ...

, he was recalled to the Sabres and made his NHL playoff debut in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

. After re-signing to a one-year contract on July 14, 2005, Paetsch established himself with the Sabres in 2006–07, playing in a career high 63 games, recording 24 points. On July 31, 2007, Paetsch was re-signed to a three-year contract with the Sabres. During the 2009–10 season, Paetsch was limited to a reserve defenseman with the Sabres. On January 4, 2010, Paetsch was placed, and later cleared, on waivers from the Sabres. After 11 games with the Sabres, Paetsch was traded, along with a second round draft pick, to the

for forward

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on March 3, 2010. On July 7, 2010, Paetsch signed with the Florida Panthers for one year on a one-way contract worth $525,000. Not making the Panthers' squad, he was waived to the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the

. On October 7, his one-way contract was traded to 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 (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

for defenseman Sean Zimmerman, on a two-way contract. The Canucks then loaned Paetsch and Andrew Peters back to the Americans. On November 1, Paetsch and Peters were removed from the Amerks roster due to curfew violations, with Paetsch moving to the Syracuse Crunch and Peters ultimately retiring. On June 21, 2011, Paetsch left the NHL to sign a one-year contract in Europe for the 2011–12 season, with EHC Wolfsburg of the

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DEL. On July 9, 2012, Paetsch signed a one-year AHL contract with the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...

for the 2012–13 season. Paetsch won 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 cur ...

with the Griffins in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. On July 9, 2013, Paetsch re-signed a two-year AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins through the 2014–15 season. During the 2014–15 season, Paetsch eight goals and 30 assists, in 75 games. His 30 assists ranked second on the team, and his 38 points tied for fifth overall on the team and 12th among all AHL defensemen, marking his highest-scoring season since 2005–06 with Rochester. On July 6, 2015, Paetsch signed a two-year AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins. After leading the Griffins as captain to their second

in the 2016–17 season, before leaving as a free agent after five years with the club. On September 12, 2017, he opted to continue in the AHL in signing a one-year contract in a return to the Rochester Americans. Paetsch announced his retirement after 17 professional seasons in December 2020.

Personal

Paetsch grew up in a town called

Leroy, Saskatchewan Leroy is a town in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. From 1905 to 1913 the area, now known as LeRoy, was a Local Improvement District. In 1913 the Local Improvement District was constituted as the Rural Municipality of Roach #339, as meetin ...

, but was born in Humboldt since it was the nearest town with a hospital. Paetsch and his wife maintain a home in

Spencerport, New York Spencerport is a village in Monroe County, New York, United States, and a suburb of Rochester. The population count was 3,601 at the 2010 census. The Village of Spencerport is within the Town of Ogden and is a village on the Erie Canal. Spence ...

, a suburb of Rochester. Paetsch has been convicted of gambling-related charges.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paetsch, Nathan 1983 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Columbus Blue Jackets players Grizzlys Wolfsburg players Grand Rapids Griffins players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Moose Jaw Warriors players People from Spencerport, New York Sportspeople from Monroe County, New York Sportspeople convicted of crimes Sportspeople from Humboldt, Saskatchewan Rochester Americans players Syracuse Crunch players Washington Capitals draft picks Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States