David Schlemko
David Schlemko | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 7, 1987 Canada |
| Occupation | Professional ice hockey defenceman (retired) |
| Years active | 2007–2019 |
| Known for | Playing eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) |
David Schlemko (born May 7, 1987) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) for eleven seasons.
Playing career
Schlemko's junior hockey tenure was with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League between 2004 and 2007, where he contributed to their WHL championship victory in 2007. Although undrafted, he secured a three-year entry-level contract with the Coyotes on July 19, 2007, beginning his professional journey with the Arizona Sundogs in the Central Hockey League. The following year, he transitioned to the San Antonio Rampage before debuting in the NHL during the 2008–09 season with the Coyotes, appearing in three games and registering one assist. His inaugural NHL goal occurred on November 14, 2009, against Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars.
Amid the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Schlemko participated in 14 games for the Arizona Sundogs. On January 3, 2015, he was claimed off waivers by the Dallas Stars, playing five scoreless games before being picked up by the Calgary Flames on March 1, 2015.
As a free agent on September 10, 2015, Schlemko inked a one-year deal with the New Jersey Devils. There, he established himself firmly on defense and achieved career-best figures with six goals and nineteen points over sixty-seven games in the 2015–16 season.
On July 1, 2016, Schlemko agreed to a four-year contract with the San Jose Sharks. During the 2016–17 campaign, he matched his previous season’s goal total with six and added eighteen points across sixty-two games.
Selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Schlemko was soon traded to the Montreal Canadiens for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. A hand injury requiring surgery limited his participation during much of the 2017–18 season; nonetheless, he returned to play thirty-seven games for Montreal.
Sidelined again by injury during the preseason of 2018–19, Schlemko managed only eighteen games before being waived and assigned to Montreal’s AHL affiliate, Laval Rocket. On February 9, 2019, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers organization and completed the season with their AHL team, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Flyers placed Schlemko on unconditional waivers for a contract buyout on June 30, 2019, marking the conclusion of his time with the franchise.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2004–05 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 65 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 23 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2005–06 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 69 | 9 | 35 | 44 | 44 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | ||
| 2006–07 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 64 | 8 | 50 | 58 | 78 | 23 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 12 | ||
| 2007–08 | Arizona Sundogs | CHL | 58 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2007–08 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||
| 2008–09 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 68 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 20 | |||||||
| 2008–09 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 2009–10 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 55 | 5 | 26 | 31 | 30 | |||||||
| 2009–10 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | |||||||
| 2010–11 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 43 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||
| 2011–12 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 46 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Arizona Sundogs | CHL | 14 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | |||||||
| 2012–13 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 30 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 | |||||||
| 2013–14 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 48 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 18 | |||||||
| 2014–15 | Arizona Coyotes | NHL | 20 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| 2014–15 Portland Pirates AHL 2 1 3 4 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–15 Dallas Stars NHL 5 0 0 0 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–15 Calgary Flames NHL 19 0 0 0 8 11 0 1 1 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–16 |New Jersey Devils |NHL |67 |6 |13 |19 |16 | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–17 |San Jose Sharks |NHL |62 |6 |12 |18 |14 |6 |2 |1 |3 |2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–18 |Laval Rocket |AHL |3 |0 |1 |1 |0 | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–18 |Montreal Canadiens |NHL |37 |1 |4 |5 |6 | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–19 |Montreal Canadiens |NHL |18 |0 |2 |2 |4 | | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–19 |Laval Rocket |AHL |8 |1 |3 |4 |2 | | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–19 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 18 00 44 4 4 | | ||||||||||||||
| colspan="3" align=left NHL totals !415 !18 !76 !94 !124 !26 !3 !2 !5 !8 | ||||||||||||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| WHL | ||
| Second All-Star Team, East Division | 2007 | |