Jake McCabe (born October 12, 1993) is an American 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 ...

defenseman 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 plays for 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 ...

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 ...

(NHL). He was drafted by 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 ...

in the second round (44th overall) of the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top thr ...

Playing career

Collegiate

McCabe played his high school hockey at Eau Claire Memorial, before going to play college hockey at Wisconsin where he spent three seasons playing for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

in the NCAA Men's Division I

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. In his first year with the Badgers, McCabe suffered a severed tendon in his finger, cutting his season to only 26 games. In his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year, McCabe's outstanding play was rewarded with a selection to the 2013–14 All-Big Ten First Team.

Professional

Buffalo Sabres

On April 2, 2014, the Sabres signed McCabe to a three-year entry-level contract, with the intent of having him join the Sabres' active roster. He made his NHL debut the following day, skating 16:20 with the Sabres in a 2–1 loss to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

. He recorded his first career NHL goal on October 15, 2015, in a loss to the Florida Panthers. After playing in nearly all 82 games with the Sabres during the 2015–16 season, McCabe signed a three-year contract extension with the Sabres on June 30, 2016. On January 7, 2017, McCabe delivered a hit on Patrik Laine of the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

. Laine suffered a concussion and left the game after the hit but McCabe was not disciplined or fined. McCabe ended the regular season with career highs in assists and points. During the 2017–18 season, McCabe suffered a thumb and shoulder injury that cut his season short. Entering the 2019–20 season under new head coach Ralph Krueger, McCabe was named an alternate captain of the Sabres.

Chicago Blackhawks

On July 28, 2021, McCabe left the Sabres as a free agent and signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the

Personal life

McCabe comes from an athletic family, his cousin is

Eric Decker Eric Thomas Decker (born March 15, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football and college baseball at the University of Minnesota, and was dr ...

who played in the NFL. He also comes from a hockey playing family; his father played collegiate hockey at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

and his brother Andrew played one season at the

University of Nebraska-Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

before transferring to the

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire h ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1993 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Chicago Blackhawks players Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Sportspeople from Eau Claire, Wisconsin Rochester Americans players Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans {{US-icehockey-defenseman-stub