Mike Matheson
Matheson with the Portland Pirates in 2015
Born (1994-02-27) February 27, 1994 (age 30)
Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 193 lb (88 kg; 13 st 11 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Montreal Canadiens
Florida Panthers
Pittsburgh Penguins
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 23rd overall, 2012
Florida Panthers
Playing career 2015–present

Michael Matheson (born February 27, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Florida Panthers in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Matheson has also previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Playing career

As a youth, Matheson played in the 2006 and 2007 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from the West Island.[1] He began his junior career in the Quebec Midget AAA league playing with the Lac St. Louis Lions from 2009 to 2011.[2] Matheson then left to join the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he led all defencemen in scoring in 2011–12. He then committed to play for Boston College of the NCAA starting in 2012–13. He cited his motivation for leaving his native Quebec was the ability to develop better as a player in the USHL and in the NCAA.[3] Following his freshman year at Boston College, Matheson was named to Hockey East's All-Rookie Team.[4] For his sophomore campaign, Matheson earned All-First Team honours in the Hockey East conference[5] as well as All-Second Team East Honors in the NCAA as determined by the AHCA.[6]

Matheson decided on April 30 to remain at Boston College for the 2014–15 season amid rumours of his leaving school to sign with the NHL team that drafted him, the Florida Panthers.[7] On May 8, he was named team captain for the 2014–15 season. At the conclusion of the 2014–15 season, Matheson signed an entry-level contract with the Panthers, forgoing his senior year of NCAA eligibility, and was sent to play with the Panthers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.[8]

Matheson made his NHL debut on March 23, 2016, in a 3–1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.[9] He recorded his first career NHL goal the following season on October 18, 2016, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.[10]

On October 7, 2017, the Panthers signed Matheson to an eight-year, $39 million contract extension worth $4.875 million annually.[11][12] On October 13, 2018, during a game against the Vancouver Canucks, Matheson checked Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, resulting in Pettersson leaving the game with a concussion.[13] While Matheson was not penalized for the play on the ice, the NHL Department of Player Safety believed that Matheson had an intent to injure, resulting in him suspension two games, thereby forfeiting $52,419.36 in salary.[14] Following the incident, Matheson said, "I know deep down there was no frustration in me when that play happened and there was no intent to injure on my part;" he apologized to Pettersson via text.[15]

On September 24, 2020, Matheson was traded by the Panthers to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Colton Sceviour, in exchange for Patric Hörnqvist.[16]

On July 16, 2022, Matheson, along with a 2023 fourth-round draft pick, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling.[17] The trade reunited Matheson with his former agent Kent Hughes, who had become general manager of the Canadiens in January 2022.[18] Expected to become the team's top defenceman, Matheson was considered to have performed strongly in the preseason games lead up to the 2022–23 season, but developed an abdominal muscle strain while participating in a Kraft Hockeyville game. It was announced that he would miss the first eight weeks of the season.[19] He made his debut in the team's eighteenth game of the season on November 19, registered a goal and an assist in a 5–4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers.[20]

In advance of the 2023–24 season, with the departure of Joel Edmundson to the Washington Capitals, Matheson was named as an alternate captain of the Canadiens.[21]

Personal life

Matheson met Emily Pfalzer, an American professional ice hockey player and Olympic gold medalist, while both were playing at Boston College. The two became engaged in the summer of 2018 and married on July 20, 2019.[22] Their son, Hudson, was born in 2021.[23]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Lac Saint-Louis Lions QMAAA 30 5 6 11 33 17 6 7 13 10
2010–11 Lac Saint-Louis Lions QMAAA 35 14 24 38 72 15 7 18 25 16
2011–12 Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 53 11 16 27 84 5 4 1 5 4
2012–13 Boston College HE 36 8 17 25 78 — — — — —
2013–14 Boston College HE 38 3 18 21 49 — — — — —
2014–15 Boston College HE 38 3 22 25 26 — — — — —
2014–15 San Antonio Rampage AHL 5 0 2 2 8 — — — — —
2015–16 Portland Pirates AHL 54 8 12 20 30 3 0 1 1 2
2015–16 Florida Panthers NHL 3 0 0 0 2 5 0 1 1 0
2016–17 Florida Panthers NHL 81 7 10 17 36 — — — — —
2017–18 Florida Panthers NHL 81 10 17 27 61 — — — — —
2018–19 Florida Panthers NHL 75 8 19 27 44 — — — — —
2019–20 Florida Panthers NHL 59 8 12 20 14 2 0 0 0 8
2020–21 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 5 11 16 28 6 0 0 0 0
2021–22 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 11 20 31 33 7 1 5 6 6
2022–23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 8 26 34 33 — — — — —
NHL totals 465 57 115 172 251 20 1 6 7 14
Medal record
Representing  Canada
ice hockey
Ice Hockey World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Russia
Silver medal – second place 2017 Germany/France

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Canada Quebec U17 4th 6 2 6 8 10
2011 Canada IH18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 0 0 0 2
2016 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 2 4 6 0
2017 Canada WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 10 1 6 7 10
Junior totals 11 2 6 8 12
Senior totals 20 3 10 13 10

Awards and honours

Award Year Ref
College
All-Hockey East Rookie Team 2012–13
All-Hockey East First Team 2013–14
AHCA East First-Team All-American 2013–14 [6]
International
World Championships Best Defenceman 2016 [24]

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  2. ^ "Mike Matheson, Hockey's Future". Hockey's Future. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  3. ^ Odebralski, Glenn (June 22, 2012). "Adding To The Blueline With Matheson". Florida Panthers. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  4. ^ "Hockey East announces 2013 All-Rookie Team". Hockey East. March 22, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  5. ^ "league announces All-Star Team". Hockey East. March 20, 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Six hockey east players selected as All-Americans". Hockey East. April 11, 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  7. ^ Dilks, Chris (April 29, 2014). "Michael Matheson Returning to Boston College". SB Nation. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  8. ^ "Panthers agree to terms with Michael Matheson". Florida Panthers. April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  9. ^ Leitner, Jim (March 23, 2016). "Matheson's NHL debut a whirlwind". ushl.com. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Point scores shootout winner, Lightning beat Panthers 4-3". cbssports.com. October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  11. ^ @TSNBobMcKenzie (October 7, 2017). "AAV of $4.875M on an eight-year, $39M contract. Done deal" (Tweet). Retrieved October 10, 2017 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ McLaren, Ian (October 9, 2017). "Panthers announce 8-year extension for Mike Matheson". TheScore.com. The Score. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "Canucks' Elias Pettersson out 7-10 days with concussion". TSN.ca. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  14. ^ "Matheson suspended two games for actions in Panthers game". NHL.com. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  15. ^ "Michael Matheson says 'it wasn't my intent' to injure Elias Pettersson". sportsnet.ca. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.. Thomas Drance (Senior Writer, The Athletic) described Matheson as "genuinely a remarkable human being".
  16. ^ "Pens acquire Matheson and Sceviour from Panthers for Patric Hornqvist". Pittsburgh Penguins. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  17. ^ "Canadiens trade defenceman Jeff Petry to Penguins". Sportsnet. July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Cowan, Stu (July 17, 2022). "A homecoming for newest Canadien Mike Matheson". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  19. ^ Cowan, Stu (October 13, 2022). "Mike Matheson to miss at least eight weeks". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  20. ^ Hickey, Pat (November 20, 2022). "'We found a way to win,' Mike Matheson says of Montreal debut". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  21. ^ Zurkowsky, Herb (September 11, 2023). "Mike Matheson in a 'pinch-myself moment' after being named Canadiens' assistant captain". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  22. ^ Cowan, Stu (September 19, 2018). "Road to NHL started with ringette for Panthers' Mike Matheson". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  23. ^ Cowan, Stu (September 27, 2022). "Nervous, exciting Canadiens debut for Mike Matheson". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  24. ^ "Laine lands MVP". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2016.

External links

Awards and achievements Preceded byJonathan Huberdeau Florida Panthers' first round draft pick 2012 Succeeded byAleksander Barkov
Categories