David Schlemko

David Schlemko (born May 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

David Schlemko
Schlemko with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2014
Born (1987-05-07) May 7, 1987
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Free Agent
Arizona Coyotes
Dallas Stars
Calgary Flames
New Jersey Devils
San Jose Sharks
Montreal Canadiens
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2007present

Playing career

Schlemko played junior hockey for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League from 2004 until 2007. He was a member of the Tigers' WHL championship team in 2007. Undrafted, Schlemko was signed as a free agent on July 19, 2007, by the Coyotes to a three-year entry level contract and was assigned to the Central Hockey League's Arizona Sundogs.[1] In 2008, Schlemko was assigned to the San Antonio Rampage. He made his NHL debut with the Coyotes during the 2008–09 season, playing a total of 3 games scoring 1 assist. His first career NHL goal was scored on November 14, 2009, against Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars.[2]

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, he played 14 games on the Arizona Sundogs of the Central Hockey League (CHL).

In the 2014–15 season, on January 3, 2015, he was claimed off waivers by the Dallas Stars.[3] Schlemko played in 5 scoreless games with the Stars as a reserve defenseman before he was again placed and claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames on March 1, 2015.[4]

As a free agent on September 10, 2015, Schlemko joined his fourth organization within a year in signing a one-year contract with the New Jersey Devils.[5] As a late free-agent addition to the Devils, Schlemko surprised in the 2015–16 season, to solidify his role on the blueline and record a career-high 6 goals and 19 points in 67 games.

On July 1, 2016, Schlemko was rewarded from his tenure with the Devils in signing a four-year contract as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks.[6] In the 2016–17 season, Schlemko solidified the Sharks blueline, appearing in 62 games in matching his previous season 6 goals while contributing with 18 points.

Schlemko's tenure with the Sharks was limited to one season however, as he was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft on June 21, 2017.[7] The following day, the Golden Knights promptly dealt him to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in 2019.[8] Schlemko missed the beginning of the 2017–18 season with the Canadiens after breaking his hand on his first day of training camp with the club. Nearing a return from injury, Schlemko played one game on a conditioning stint with AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, before suffering a setback in requiring surgery to remove bone fragments in his hand on October 19, 2017.[9] Schlemko missed the first 25 games of the season before returning to make 37 appearances and adding 1 goal and four assists.

For a second consecutive year, Schlemko was placed on the injured reserve to begin the 2018–19 season, after injuring his knee in a pre-season game on September 29, 2018.[10] Schlemko returned to action to appear in 18 games on the blueline for the Canadiens for 2 assists before he was placed on waivers and demoted to the Laval Rocket on January 8, 2019.[11] Schlemko registered 4 points in 8 games for the Rockets before he was traded by the Canadiens, alongside Byron Froese, to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Dale Weise and Christian Folin on February 9, 2019.[12] Schlemko reported directly to AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and played out the remainder of the regular season to appear in 18 games for 4 assists.

On June 30, 2019, Schlemko was placed on unconditional waivers by the Flyers in order to buy out the remaining year on his contract.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05Medicine Hat TigersWHL6552429231303310
2005–06Medicine Hat TigersWHL6993544441325715
2006–07Medicine Hat TigersWHL648505878233131612
2007–08Arizona SundogsCHL5810293924143586
2007–08San Antonio RampageAHL10004
2008–09San Antonio RampageAHL687222920
2008–09Phoenix CoyotesNHL30110
2009–10San Antonio RampageAHL555263130
2009–10Phoenix CoyotesNHL171458
2010–11Phoenix CoyotesNHL43410142441014
2010–11San Antonio RampageAHL30002
2011–12Phoenix CoyotesNHL46110111050000
2012–13Arizona SundogsCHL1437104
2012–13Phoenix CoyotesNHL3015612
2013–14Phoenix CoyotesNHL4818918
2014–15Arizona CoyotesNHL201344
2014–15Portland PiratesAHL21340
2014–15Dallas StarsNHL50000
2014–15Calgary FlamesNHL190008110112
2015–16New Jersey DevilsNHL676131916
2016–17San Jose SharksNHL62612181462132
2017–18Laval RocketAHL30110
2017–18Montreal CanadiensNHL371456
2018–19Montreal CanadiensNHL180224
2018–19Laval RocketAHL81342
2018–19Lehigh Valley PhantomsAHL180444
NHL totals 415 18 76 94 124 26 3 2 5 8

References

  1. "Coyotes sign Schlemko to contract". Phoenix Coyotes. 2007-07-19. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  2. "Tippet wins in return to Dallas". CBS Sports. 2009-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  3. "Dallas Stars claim defenseman David Schlemko off Waivers". Dallas Stars. 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  4. "Flames trade Glencross to Capitals, claim Schlemko". Yahoo! Sports. 2015-03-01. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  5. "New Jersey Devils sign David Schlemko". New Jersey Devils. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  6. "Sharks sign defenseman David Schlemko". San Jose Sharks. 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  7. "Vegas Picks Defenseman Schlemko From Sharks in Expansion Draft". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  8. "Canadiens acquire defenseman David Schlemko from Vegas". National Hockey League. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  9. "Schlemko will miss another 3-4 weeks". habseyesontheprize.com. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  10. "Canadiens defenseman David Schlemko out 6 weeks". Sportsnet.ca. 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  11. "Canadiens assign David Schlemko to Rockets". Montreal Canadiens. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  12. "Flyers acquire David Schlemko, Byron Froese from Canadiens". Philadelphia Flyers. 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  13. "Flyers place David Schlemko on waivers for purpose of buyout". Sportsnet.ca. June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
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