Darby Hendrickson

Darby Joseph Hendrickson (born August 28, 1972) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He played in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche, and is a former assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild for 14 seasons. Currently, Hendrickson is an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators.

Playing career He was drafted in the fourth round, 73rd overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1990 NHL entry draft. After being named Minnesota Mr. Hockey in 1991 for his play at Richfield Senior High School, Hendrickson entered the University of Minnesota. He played for two seasons with the Golden Gophers before joining Toronto's American Hockey League affiliate, the St. John's Maple Leafs, in the 1993–94 season. After playing on the United States hockey team in the 1994 Winter Olympics, he made his NHL debut with Toronto during the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs, appearing in two games.

Other than a brief move to the New York Islanders during the 1995–96 season, Hendrickson remained with the Maple Leafs until midway through the 1998–99 season, when he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Chris McAllister on February 16, 1999. The Canucks left him unprotected in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft, and he was selected by the Minnesota Wild. After three-plus seasons with the Wild, Hendrickson was traded during the 2003–04 season on February 25, 2004, along with an 8th round draft pick (Brandon Yip), to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a fourth round pick, which in turn was traded to the Ottawa Senators (who used the pick to select Cody Bass) in exchange for center Todd White.

During 2004–05 NHL lockout Hendrickson, as a friend of Sergei Zholtok, played seven games in Latvian hockey league club HK Riga 2000, but after the death of Zholtok he left the club. Hendrickson spent two seasons from 2005–07 playing for EC Salzburg in the Austrian EBEL before retiring.

Hendrickson worked as a Wild commentator for FSN North, and on March 27, 2008, he was named Northwest Divisional Representative by the NHLPA.

Personal life His son, Beckett, was drafted in the fourth round, 124th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2023 NHL entry draft.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Richfield High School HS-MN 22 12 9 21 10 — — — — — 1988–89 Richfield High School HS-MN 22 22 20 42 12 — — — — — 1989–90 Richfield High School HS-MN 24 23 27 50 49 — — — — — 1990–91 Richfield High School HS-MN 27 32 29 61 — — — — — — 1991–92 University of Minnesota WCHA 44 25 30 55 63 — — — — — 1992–93 University of Minnesota WCHA 31 12 15 27 35 — — — — — 1993–94 United States Intl 59 12 16 28 30 — — — — — 1993–94 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 6 4 1 5 4 3 1 1 2 0 1993–94 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0 1994–95 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 59 16 20 36 48 — — — — — 1994–95 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 8 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 46 6 6 12 47 — — — — — 1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 16 1 4 5 33 — — — — — 1996–97 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 12 5 4 9 21 — — — — — 1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 64 11 6 17 47 — — — — — 1997–98 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 8 4 12 67 — — — — — 1998–99 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 35 2 3 5 30 — — — — — 1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 27 2 2 4 22 — — — — — 1999–2000 Syracuse Crunch AHL 20 5 8 13 16 — — — — — 1999–2000 Vancouver Canucks NHL 40 5 4 9 14 — — — — — 2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 72 18 11 29 36 — — — — — 2001–02 Minnesota Wild NHL 68 9 15 24 50 — — — — — 2002–03 Minnesota Wild NHL 28 1 5 6 8 17 2 3 5 4 2003–04 Houston Aeros AHL 31 4 5 9 19 — — — — — 2003–04 Minnesota Wild NHL 14 1 0 1 6 — — — — — 2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 20 1 3 4 6 6 1 0 1 2 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LVA 1 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 6 2 2 4 26 — — — — — 2005–06 EC Salzburg AUT 31 9 10 19 12 — — — — — 2006–07 EC Salzburg AUT 56 10 28 38 54 7 0 1 1 12 NHL totals 518 65 64 129 370 25 3 3 6 6

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1994 United States OG 8th 8 0 0 0 6 1996 United States WC 8 1 1 2 4 1997 United States WC 6th 8 0 1 1 8 1998 United States WC 12th 6 1 0 1 0 1999 United States WC 6th 6 0 2 2 0 2000 United States WC 5th 7 1 1 2 12 2001 United States WC 4th 9 3 3 6 4 Senior totals 52 6 8 14 34

Awards and honors Award Year All-WCHA Rookie Team 1991–92