Jamieson Oleksiak (born December 21, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the "Big Rig", Oleksiak was selected 14th overall in the first round of the

2011 NHL Entry Draft The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the Draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars hoste ...

by the Stars, the highest draft choice in

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

's history.

Playing career

Junior

Oleksiak attended

for one year and had 13 points on 4 goals and 9 assists and team-best +13 plus/minus. After his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

season with the Northeastern Huskies, Oleksiak decided to return to the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

for further development, and on July 25, 2011 the Saginaw Spirit announced that they had signed Oleksiak to an Ontario Hockey League contract, and on October 6, 2011, it was announced that Oleksiak had signed a three-year entry level contract with the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars. With the Spirit out of contention during the 2011–12 season, Oleksiak was traded to the title contending Niagara IceDogs on January 10, 2012. Jamie Oleksiak - Texas Stars

Professional

On January 30, 2013, the Dallas Stars called up Oleksiak from the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the t ...

of the American Hockey League. Oleksiak assisted

Brenden Morrow Brenden Blair Morrow (born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. Morrow was drafted in the first round, 25th overall, by the Dallas Stars at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, the organization he would play with for 1 ...

for his first NHL point on February 13 vs. Calgary Flames. On October 28, 2014, Oleksiak scored his first career NHL goal against the St. Louis Blues in a 4–3 loss. He'd finish the season with 8 points in 36 games. Oleksiak's first full season in the NHL with Dallas was the 2016–17 season. While waiver eligible, healthy scratches and a hand injury limited Oleksiak to just 41 games. On August 4, 2017, the Stars re-signed Oleksiak to a one-year, $964,688 contract. In the 2017–18 season, his sixth season within the Stars organization and having been unable to solidify a role on the blueline, Oleksiak appeared in 21 games recording just 3 points before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in

2019 NHL Entry Draft The 2019 NHL Entry Draft was the 57th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 21–22, 2019 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first three selections were Jack Hughes going to the New Jersey Devils, Kaapo Kakko being select ...

on December 19, 2017. Oleksiak immediately established his role with the Penguins and in his 47 regular-season games with the Penguins following the trade, he scored 4 goals, 10 assists for 14 points with increased ice-time. He made his post-season debut with the Penguins, adding 1 goal in 12 games. On July 12, 2018, Oleksiak as a restricted free agent, agreed to a three-year, $6.4 million contract extension with the Penguins. In the 2018–19 season, on December 19, 2018, Oleksiak fought Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson in the first period and was briefly knocked unconscious. He left the game and did not return. After evaluation, the team announced that Oleksiak had suffered a concussion as a result of the fight and would be sidelined from game action indefinitely. He was eventually cleared to play on December 29. On January 28, 2019, he was traded back to the Dallas Stars by the Pittsburgh Penguins for the same fourth-round draft pick in 2019 that he was originally traded to Pittsburgh for. On July 21, 2021, Oleksiak was selected from the Stars at the

2021 NHL Expansion Draft The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft was an expansion draft that was conducted by the National Hockey League on July 21, 2021, to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2021–22 NHL season, 2021–22 season, the Seattle Kraken. Backgrou ...

by the Seattle Kraken. Oleksiak was immediately signed to a five-year, $23 million contract by the Kraken.

International play

Oleksiak, who holds dual Canadian/United States citizenship, represented the United States in the

2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament The 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament was an under-18 ice hockey tournament held in Břeclav, Czech Republic and Piešťany, Slovakia from August 11–15, 2009. The two venues were Alcaplast Arena in Břeclav and Patrícia Ice Arena 37 in Pie� ...

which finished in fourth place, but later decided he would represent Canada internationally.

Personal life

Oleksiak is of Ukrainian and Czech descent. He attended school with both

Dougie The Dougie ( ) is a hip hop dance generally performed by moving one's body in a shimmy style and passing a hand through or near the hair on one's own head. The dance originated in Dallas, Texas, where it took its name from similar moves perfo ...

and

Freddie Hamilton Frederick Hamilton (born January 1, 1992) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played six seasons, split between the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes, and also played internationally for ...

at Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario, before moving to the United States to pursue his career in hockey. Oleksiak's youngest sister,

Penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

, is a competitive swimmer and Canada's most decorated Olympic athlete, having won a combined total of 7 medals at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

and

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

.Canada’s Darling, by the Way, Has a Brother in the N.H.L.
''The New York Times''

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleksiak, Jamie 1992 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Czech descent Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Chicago Steel players Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Ice hockey people from Ontario National Hockey League first-round draft picks Niagara IceDogs players Northeastern Huskies men's ice hockey players Pittsburgh Penguins players Saginaw Spirit players Seattle Kraken players Sioux Falls Stampede players Sportspeople from Toronto Texas Stars players