Jake Leschyshyn

Jake Leschyshyn (born March 10, 1999) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Leschyshyn played junior hockey for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League, serving as captain of the latter in 2018–19, and previously played in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights. He also played in the AHL for the Chicago Wolves and Henderson Silver Knights.

Early life
Leschyshyn was born on March 10, 1999, in Raleigh, North Carolina to parents Curtis and Laura. As his father played for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, Leschyshyn started playing ice hockey in the state. He participated in organized ice hockey in Colorado from 2004 until 2011 when his family moved to Saskatchewan. Prior to the move, Leschyshyn played with the Colorado Thunderbirds' U12 Pee Wee Major Team.

Amateur
Upon moving to Saskatchewan, Leschyshyn played his second year of pee wee AA, as well as bantam AA and midget AAA, in Saskatoon. While playing with the Saskatoon Bantam AA Stallions of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League in the 2013–14 season, Leschyshyn accumulated 31 goals and 28 assists. As a result of his play, Leschyshyn was drafted sixth overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft. Although Leschyshyn signed with the Rebels in July 2014, he was reassigned to the Saskatoon Blazers of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League for the 2014–15 season after attending their training camp. While with the Blazers, he collected 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points through 38 games. In January 2015, Leschyshyn's WHL playing rights were traded to the Regina Pats in exchange for Connor Gay, a 2016 1st Round pick, 2015 2nd Round pick, and 2017 7th Round pick. As such, Leschyshyn played earned a two-game call up from the Pats in February which saw him make his WHL debut and score his first WHL goal.

Major junior
Upon concluding the 2014–15 season with the Blazers, Leschyshyn joined the Pats full-time in March 2015 for the remainder of their games. He re-joined the Pats for the 2015–16 season where he immediately made an impact on the team by scoring his first WHL hat-trick on November 27, 2015. During the 2016–17 season, he scored 17 goals and 40 points, but missed the remainder of the season after suffering an knee injury. Prior to the 2018–19 season, he was named captain by the Regina Pats after spending the previous season as an alternate captain. However, during the season, he was traded along with fellow teammate Nick Henry to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Professional
Drafted by the Golden Knights in 2017, he signed an entry-level contract on June 1, 2018, and played his first NHL game on October 14, 2021 after key players like Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty dealt with key injuries. He scored his first career NHL goal and registered his first career points during a 7-4 victory against the Vancouver Canucks. He started in the 18 games during the first half of the season with the Golden Knights, but was re-assigned to the Henderson Silver Knights. On August 13, 2022, he signed a three-year deal to remain with the Golden Knights. However, he was waived by Vegas for assignment to the AHL on January 10, 2023, after not registering a point in 22 games.

On January 11, 2023, he was claimed off waivers by the New York Rangers, one day after the Golden Knights waived him. He started in 13 games with the Rangers during the season before being placed on waivers and being sent down to the Hartford Wolf Pack, which ultimately paved the way for the Rangers to trade for Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane.