Chase De Leo

Chase De Leo (born October 25, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously played for the Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, and New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League and Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Personal life De Leo was born on October 25, 1995, in La Mirada, California, U.S. to parents John and Janie who own a wholesale plumbing supply company. De Leo originally played baseball before being convinced to take up roller hockey due to his mom finding the former sport boring.

De Leo played roller hockey for the Orange County Blades before transitioned to ice hockey. He began playing as a goaltender for the Norwalk Knights before switching positions. As a youth, De Leo played for the Los Angeles Selects minor ice hockey team, where he was a teammate of Eric Comrie. While playing with this team, De Leo competed in the 2008 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. After meeting Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy, De Leo chose to pursue ice hockey as a career.

The Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected De Leo in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL entry draft. After completing his junior career in 2015, De Leo was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Jets' top minor league affiliate. He spent most of his first professional season with the Moose, but was briefly recalled by the Jets on March 20, 2016, to make his NHL debut on March 20 against the Anaheim Ducks. De Leo played one more game for the Jets before being returned to the AHL. De Leo spent the following two seasons entirely with the Moose in the AHL.

As an impending restricted free agent following the 2017–18 season, De Leo was traded by the Jets to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Nic Kerdiles on June 30, 2018. That season with the Gulls, he set career-highs in goals (20) and points (55) while appearing in 66 games. During the 2019–20 season, De Leo set a new career-high three shorthanded goals and served as an alternate captain, a role he continued into the 2020–21 season with the Gulls.

Following three years within the Ducks organization, De Leo left as a free agent and was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils on July 29, 2021. He was recalled in November and made his Devils debut on November 24, 2021 in a 3–2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

After a lone season with the Devils, De Leo as a free agent opted to return to his former club, the Anaheim Ducks, by signing a two-year, two-way contract on July 14, 2022.

On September 7, 2024, De Leo went overseas, signing a one-year contract with Barys Astana in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). After finding themselves in last place in the KHL, Barys Astrana began releasing expensive foreign-born players from their contracts in an attempt to cut costs. De Leo had his contract terminated by the club after playing nine games with the team.

On October 28, 2024, De Leo joined the ZSC Lions of the National League (NL) for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. The "Zett" signed De Leo as a replacement for injured forward Rūdolfs Balcers and to occupy their seventh import spot. De Leo played four NL games (0 points) and two Champions Hockey League games (1 assist) with the team before being released on November 28. In returning to North America as a free agent, De Leo was later signed to a AHL contract for the remainder of the season with the Charlotte Checkers. Before he could join the Checkers, De Leo was subject to waivers because he began the season in Europe. On January 18, 2025, De Leo was claimed by the Milwaukee Admirals, affiliate to the Nashville Predators.

International play De Leo was a member of Team USA at the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2011–12 Portland Winterhawks WHL 69 14 16 30 25 22 0 1 1 2 2012–13 Portland Winterhawks WHL 71 18 38 56 24 21 5 12 17 15 2013–14 Portland Winterhawks WHL 72 39 42 81 36 21 10 9 19 6 2014–15 Portland Winterhawks WHL 67 39 45 84 30 17 7 12 19 10 2015–16 Manitoba Moose AHL 73 19 21 40 34 ————— 2015–16 Winnipeg Jets NHL 2 0 0 0 0 ————— 2016–17 Manitoba Moose AHL 69 14 18 32 12 ————— 2017–18 Manitoba Moose AHL 69 12 23 35 31 92680 2018–19 San Diego Gulls AHL 66 20 35 55 12 165052 2018–19 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 0 0 ————— 2019–20 San Diego Gulls AHL 51 10 15 25 16 ————— 2019–20 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 0 0 ————— 2020–21 San Diego Gulls AHL 37 15 20 35 18 30000 2020–21 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 0 0 ————— 2021–22 Utica Comets AHL 55 21 35 56 18 51232 2021–22 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 0 0 0 0 ————— 2022–23 San Diego Gulls AHL 22 9 14 23 10 ————— 2023–24 San Diego Gulls AHL 52 15 33 48 16 ————— 2024–25 Barys Astana KHL 9 0 0 0 0 ————— 2024–25 ZSC Lions NL 4 0 0 0 0 ————— 2024–25 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 34 6 10 16 2 83252 NHL totals 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2015 United States WJC 5th 5 1 0 1 0 Junior totals 5 1 0 1 0