Borna Rendulić

Borna Rendulić
Born	(1992-03-25) March 25, 1992 Croatia
Occupation	Professional ice hockey forward
Years active	2006–present
Known for	First Croatian-trained player to reach the NHL

Borna Rendulić (, born 25 March 1992) is a Croatian professional ice hockey forward, currently playing for the Shanghai Dragons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). His career began in Croatia with KHL Medveščak in 2006 before relocating to Finland in 2008 to pursue higher-level competition. After competing at both junior and professional tiers within Finland's premier leagues, he signed with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche in 2014, becoming the first player trained in Croatia to reach the NHL. Rendulić spent the majority of his North American career with AHL affiliates before joining the Vancouver Canucks. He later returned to European leagues, participating in the KHL, DEL, and SHL. On the international stage, he has represented Croatia in several World Championships.

Playing career

At just 15 years old, Rendulić made his professional debut with his hometown team, KHL Medveščak, during the 2006–07 Croatian Ice Hockey League season. In 2008, he moved to Finland to join Ässät, advancing through their U18 and U20 squads. In January 2011, he was loaned back to Medveščak, which was then competing in the Austrian Hockey League, where he appeared in 12 games, tallying one goal and one assist.

Upon returning to Ässät, Rendulić made his debut with their senior team during the 2011–12 SM-liiga season, featuring in three games while also spending time on loan at SaPKo in Finland’s Mestis league. In May 2012, he secured a try-out contract with Liiga club HPK, eventually earning a one-year contract by August. Throughout the 2012–13 SM-liiga season, he primarily served as a depth forward, contributing eight goals over 37 games.

Rendulić extended his contract for the following 2013–14 Liiga season, stepping into a top-nine forward role and setting personal bests with 11 goals and 32 points across 57 games. His strong performance attracted attention from the NHL, culminating in a two-year entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche on 19 May 2014. This signing distinguished him as the first Croatian-born and trained player to secure an NHL contract.

Beginning the 2014–15 NHL season with Colorado’s AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, Rendulić earned a call-up to the NHL roster in December due to injuries on the Avalanche squad. He made his NHL debut on Colorado’s fourth line but sustained a shinbone injury that limited him to just 11 NHL appearances alongside 26 games in the AHL that season. Notably, on 31 December 2014, he scored his inaugural NHL goal against Steve Mason of the Philadelphia Flyers.

After his entry-level contract concluded, Colorado chose not to extend his rights in June 2016. He then signed a one-year two-way deal with the Vancouver Canucks on July 1 and made his debut for them on February 28, 2017. Following this North American tenure, Rendulić returned to Europe by signing a one-year deal with Finnish Liiga side Lahti Pelicans in August 2017. After registering five goals in fourteen outings, he transferred mid-season to KHL club HC Vityaz.

During the 2018–19 KHL season, Rendulić delivered solid production for HC Vityaz, recording 13 goals and accumulating 23 points over 59 games. On June 3, 2019, he agreed to a one-year contract with German DEL champions Adler Mannheim. After spending a season competing in Sweden’s SHL with Örebro HK, Rendulić returned to Adler Mannheim on a two-year agreement in June 2021.

Upon completing his tenure in Germany, Rendulić re-entered the KHL by signing a one-year contract with Russian club HC Sochi on May 31, 2023. Early into the 2023–24 KHL season, after leading Sochi with 15 points over just 16 contests, he was traded to contender SKA Saint Petersburg on October 10, 2023. Midway through his second campaign with SKA, Rendulić was dealt to Metallurg Magnitogorsk on December 23, 2024.

Following his stint at Metallurg as a free agent, Rendulić secured a one-year contract with Shanghai Dragons on August 17, 2025.

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2006–07	KHL Medveščak	CIHL		2	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	KHL Medveščak	SLO		2	1	0	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	KHL Medveščak	EBEL		12	1	1	2	2		5	1	1	2	6
2011–12	Ässät	SM-l		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	SaPKo	Mestis		7	2	3	5	14		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	HPK	SM-l		37	8	4	12	6		5	0	1	1	0
2012–13	Peliitat	Mestis		5	2	2	4	0
2013–14	HPK	Liiga		57	11	21	32	34		6	3	0	3	2
2014–15	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		26	4	4	8	12
2014–15	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		11	1	1	2	6
2015–16	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		3	0	0	0
2015–16	San Antonio Rampage	AHL 68 16 22 38 41
2016–17	Utica Comets	AHL 69 12 11 23 30
2016–17	Vancouver Canucks	NHL 1 0 0 0
2017–18	Lahti Pelicans	Liiga 14 5 3 8 12
2017–18	HC Vityaz	KHL 32 8 11 19 16
2018–19 HC Vityaz KHL 59 13 10 23 75 4 1 0 1 2
2019–20 Adler Mannheim DEL 50 27 22 49 51
2020–21 Örebro HK SHL 49 17 21 38 70 9 3 2 5 -
2021–22 Adler Mannheim DEL 36 15 11 26 6 9 2 4 6 29
2022–23 Adler Mannheim DEL 56 17 24 41 18 12 1 6 7 2
2023–24 HC Sochi KHL 16 9 6 15 14 - - - - -
2023–24 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 51 11 16 27 10 1 0 0 0 - - bgcolor="#f0f0f0"	2024–25 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 11 1 3 4 2 - - - - -
2024–25 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 19 2 5 7 2 - - - - -
Liiga totals !111 !24 !28 !52 !52 !11 !3 !1 !4 !2 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"				NHL totals !15 !1 !1 !2 !6 !— !— !— !— !— |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"			KHL totals !188 !44 !51 !95 !119 !5 !1 !0 !1 !2 |-} International Year Team Tournament GP G A Pts PIM 2008 Croatia WJC18-D2 5 7 5 12 2 2008 Croatia WJC-D2 5 7 3 10 4 2009 Croatia WJC18-D2 5 3 3 6 2 2009 Croatia WJC-D2 4 0 3 3 4 2009 Croatia WC-D1 5 1 2 3 2 2010 Croatia WJC-D1 5 4 3 7 0 2010 Croatia WC-D1 5 0 1 1 0 2011 Croatia WJC-D1 5 4 5 9 2 2011 Croatia WC-D2 5 8 9 17 6 2012 Croatia WJC-D1 5 3 4 7 0 2012 Croatia WC-D2 5 4 1 5 2 2013 Croatia OGQ 3 1 1 2 14 2013 Croatia WC-D2 5 4 4 8 2 2014 Croatia WC-D1 5 2 2 4 6 2016 Croatia WC-D1 4 2 5 7 0 2017 Croatia WC-D1 5 3 5 8 16 2018 Croatia WC-D1 5 3 0 3 0 2023 Croatia WC-D2A 5 4 7 11 4 Junior career totals 34 28 26 54 14 Senior career totals 52 32 37 69 52