Yohann Auvitu (born July 27, 1989) is a French 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 ...

for

Genève-Servette HC The Genève-Servette HC (also called Servette or GSHC) is a professional ice hockey club based in Geneva, Switzerland and competing in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. The team plays their home games at the ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL).

Playing career

Auvitu left his native France in 2008 to continue his development with

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...

of Finland. He logged his first minutes in Finland's top-flight Liiga during the 2010–11 season. In 2012, he claimed the Finnish championship with JYP as well as the 2013–14 edition of the European Trophy. Auvitu left JYP to sign with fellow Liiga side

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

prior to the 2014–15 campaign. After reaching the finals with HIFK, he won the 2015–16

Pekka Rautakallio trophy The Pekka Rautakallio trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish Liiga to the best defenceman of the season. In 1995 the award was renamed to carry the name of its first winner Pekka Rautakallio. In 2019 it was awarded to Oliwer Kaski of Pel ...

as the best defenceman in the Finnish

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 lea ...

. He was the first French player to win a Liiga player award. Auvitu also competed in the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

with HIFK. Auvitu signed a one-year entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils of 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 ...

on May 27, 2016. He made his NHL debut in the 2016–17 season opener on October 13, 2016 against the Florida Panthers where he got his first NHL point with an assist. On November 11, 2016, Auvitu scored his first NHL goal. He appeared in 25 games with the Devils before splitting the year in the AHL with affiliate, the

Albany Devils The Albany Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The top affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the A-Devils played their home games at the Times Union Center in Albany, ...

. Leaving as a free agent from the Devils in the off-season, Auvitu agreed to a one-year, one-way deal with the

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 ...

on July 10, 2017. Auvitu remained with the Oilers throughout the 2017–18 season, used in a depth role Auvitu registered 3 goals and 9 points in 33 games. He played as a forward for the first time in his career in a game against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

, on January 7, 2018. On July 2, 2018, Auvitu left the NHL as a free agent in signing a two-year contract with Russian club,

HC Sochi Hockey Club Sochi (russian: Хоккейный клуб Сочи) is a professional ice hockey team based in Sochi, Russia. The team joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2014–15 season. History On May 23, 2014, it was reported that ...

of 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). In the 2018–19 season, Auvitu began in a top four defensive role on the blueline for Sochi. He registered 2 goals and 6 points in 25 games with Sochi before opting to mutually terminate his contract with the club on January 15, 2019. On January 13, 2020, he signed with

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league and h ...

of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). On January 13, 2021, Auvitu was signed by his former team, HIFK of the Finnish Liiga. For the 2022–23 season, Auvitu was signed to a one-year contract by Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL on August 4, 2022.

International play

Auvitu has participated in multiple editions of the

IIHF World Championship The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

beginning with the 2010 IIHF World Championship tournament as a member of the France National men's ice hockey team.

Personal life

Auvitu married Ilariia Gorelova in 2014. The couple met at the

JAMK University of Applied Sciences JAMK University of Applied Sciences ( fi, Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulu) is a university of applied sciences (a polytechnic) in Finland, in the region of Central Finland. There are several bachelor's degree programs offered in English: * Int ...

in central Finland. The couple gave birth to their daughter, Liya Auvitu in March 2016 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Finland. He is fluent in five languages – French, English, Finnish, Russian and German.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Auvitu, Yohann 1989 births Living people Albany Devils players Edmonton Oilers players French ice hockey defencemen HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players HC Sochi players HIFK (ice hockey) players JYP Jyväskylä players Luleå HF players New Jersey Devils players People from Ivry-sur-Seine Sportspeople from Val-de-Marne Undrafted National Hockey League players