| Jake Leschyshyn | |
| Birth Date: | 10 March 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 11 |
| Weight Lbs: | 190 |
| Position: | Centre |
| Shoots: | Left |
| League: | NHL |
| Team: | New York Rangers |
| Prospect Team: | Hartford Wolf Pack |
| Prospect League: | AHL |
| Former Teams: | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Draft: | 62nd overall |
| Draft Year: | 2017 |
| Draft Team: | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Career Start: | 2019 |
Jake Leschyshyn (;[1] born March 10, 1999) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward who plays for the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted with the 62nd pick by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL entry draft, Leschyshyn has played for the Golden Knights and the New York Rangers.
Jake Leschyshyn was born on March 10, 1999, in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States,[2] to his parents Curtis and Laura.[3] [4] During Leschyshyn's time in Colorado due to his father playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, he started playing ice hockey in Colorado where he participated in local hockey from 2004 until 2011, when his family moved to Saskatchewan, Canada.[5] Prior to the move, Leschyshyn played with Colorado Thunderbirds' U12 Pee Wee Major Team.[6]
Upon moving to Saskatchewan, Leschyshyn played his second year of minor ice-hockey levels Pee Wee AA, Bantam AA and Midget AAA in Saskatoon.[7] While playing with the Saskatoon Bantam AA Stallions of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League in the 2013–2014 season, Leschyshyn accumulated 31 goals and 28 assists.[8] As a result of his play, Red Deer Rebels drafted Leschyshyn sixth overall by the in the 2015 WHL bantam draft.[9] Although Leschyshyn signed with the Rebels in July 2014,[10] he was reassigned to Saskatoon Blazers of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League for the 2014–15 season after attending the Rebels training camp.[11] While with the Blazers, he scored 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points through 38 games.[8]
On January 5, 2015, Leschyshyn's WHL playing rights were traded to Regina Pats in exchange for Connor Gay, a 2016 first-round pick, 2015 second-round pick, and 2017 seventh-round pick.[12] Leschyshyn was called up for two games in February, the first saw him make his WHL debut and the second saw him score his first WHL goal.[13]
Upon concluding the 2014–15 season with the Blazers, Leschyshyn joined the Pats full-time in March 2015 for the remainder of their games.[13] He re-joined the Pats for the 2015–16 season and immediately made an impact with the team by scoring his first WHL hat-trick on November 27, 2015.[14] During the 2016–17 season, he scored 17 goals and 40 points but missed the remainder of the season due to an knee injury.[15] Prior to the 2018–19 season, Regina Pats named him captain after spending the previous season as an alternate captain.[16] During that season, Leschyshyn, along with teammate Nick Henry, was traded to Lethbridge Hurricanes.[17]
The Vegas Golden Knights drafted Leschyshyn with 62nd overall pick in the 2017 NHL entry draft, and he signed an entry-level contract with the team on June 1, 2018.[18] He attended the inaugural prospect development for the Golden Knights but was sent back to the Regina Pats.[19] He played his first NHL game on October 14, 2021, after key players Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty were injured.[20] Leschyshyn scored his first career NHL goal and registered his first career points during a 7–4 victory against Vancouver Canucks on November 13.[21] [22] Leschyshyn started with Golden Knights in 18 games during the first half of the season but was re-assigned to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.[23] On August 13, 2022, he signed a three-year deal to remain with Golden Knights.[24] He was waived by the Golden Knights for the purpose of assignment to the AHL on January 10, 2023, after not having a single point in 22 games.[25]
On January 11, 2023, one day after being waived by the Golden Knights, the New York Rangers claimed Leschyshyn off waivers.[26] [4] He started in 13 games with the Rangers during the 2022–23 season, where he was placed on waivers and sent to the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack to make room for the Rangers to make a trade for Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane.[27] In March 2023, he returned to the Wolf Pack, where he averaged 15 points—five goals and 10 assists—in 18 games, helping the Wolf Pack make the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since 2015.[28]
During the 2023–24 season, Leschyshyn made his only appearance against St. Louis Blues, in which he logged 6 minutes and 28 seconds of ice time in a 5–2 loss.[29] In Hartford, he averaged eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points through 47 regular season games.[30] In the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, he scored the series-winning goal against the Providence Bruins, letting the Wolf Pack win the series 3–1, sending the team to the division finals for the second straight year.[31] He led the team in playoff goals with five in 10 games, and was recalled by the Rangers during their playoff run.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2013–14 | Saskatoon Blazers | SMAAAHL | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Saskatoon Blazers | SMAAAHL | 38 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Regina Pats | WHL | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Regina Pats | WHL | 66 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 38 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2016–17 | Regina Pats | WHL | 47 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Regina Pats | WHL | 64 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 67 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | Regina Pats | WHL | 24 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Lethbridge Hurricanes | WHL | 44 | 24 | 25 | 49 | 30 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 61 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Henderson Silver Knights | AHL | 39 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 2021–22 | Vegas Golden Knights | NHL | 41 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Henderson Silver Knights | AHL | 34 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Vegas Golden Knights | NHL | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | New York Rangers | NHL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 18 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 47 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 36 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | New York Rangers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 77 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||