Daemon Hunt

Daemon Hunt (born May 15, 2002) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career
As a youth in 2011–12, Hunt played six games and scored two points for the Saskatchewan Junior Pats in the Brick Invitational tournament. He was a member of the under-15 team of the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2015–16 and 2016–17 before joining their under-18 squad for the 2017–18 season. He scored 60 points in the 2016–17 season and was selected in the first round with the 15th overall pick of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by the Moose Jaw Warriors. He had 36 assists and four goals in 40 games with the Wheat Kings in 2017–18 and also played nine games that season with Moose Jaw, scoring a goal and having an assist. In the 2018–19 season with the Warriors, Hunt appeared in 57 games and scored 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists. He became an alternate captain for the team in 2019–20 and scored 15 points in 28 games.

Hunt was selected in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with the 65th overall pick by the Minnesota Wild. Before the 2020–21 WHL season, he played briefly on loan for the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and then had a three-game stay with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL), after which he returned to the Warriors and served as their team captain, scoring 18 points in 23 games. He played three further games for the Iowa Wild after the WHL season finished.

On May 6, 2021, Hunt signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. He remained with Moose Jaw as team captain in the 2021–22 season, playing 46 games and scoring 39 points. He finished his WHL career with 163 games played and 94 points scored (33 goals, 61 assists). He played with the AHL Iowa Wild in the 2022–23 season and appeared in 59 games while totaling 11 points (two goals, nine assists). He had two game-winning goals, placing first among the league's rookie defencemen.

Hunt was injured in a Minnesota Wild preseason game in 2023–24 and was then sent back to Iowa. After four games with Iowa, he was called up to Minnesota on October 23, 2023, and made his NHL debut in a 3–2 loss to the Washington Capitals. He played two games for Minnesota, posting one shot on goal, before being reassigned to Iowa on October 30.

International play
Hunt played for the Canada team at the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He played at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships, recording one assist in seven games while having a plus–minus rating of plus-five. Hunt was also selected to the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and played five games, helping Canada win the silver medal. He was in the World Junior selection camp in 2020 but did not make the final cut after contracting COVID-19. He helped Canada win the gold medal at the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Personal life
Hunt was born on May 15, 2002, in Brandon, Manitoba. He grew up in Moosomin, Saskatchewan. His cousin is former NHL player Matt Calvert.