Kelsey Tessier

Kelsey Tessier (born January 16, 1990) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played with Dragons de Rouen of the Ligue Magnus.

Playing career Tessier was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the 4th round (110th overall) of the 2008 NHL entry draft. Prior to turning professional, Tessier played major junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League primarily with the Quebec Remparts before he was traded in his final year to the Moncton Wildcats.

Despite not being tendered with a contract by the Avalanche, Tessier turned professional and was invited to the New York Rangers training camp on September 8, 2010. While impressing during the pre-season Tessier was sent to AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack and was later signed to a one-year AHL contract.

In his first professional season in 2010–11, Tessier finished second among rookies in posting 10 goals and 28 points. On July 6, 2011, Tessier was re-signed by the Connecticut Whale for a second season. Tessier repeated his rookie performance with the Whale in 2011–12, scoring 30 points in 75 games. In the 2012 Calder cup playoffs, Tessier finished with 5 points, to place third among the team.

On September 17, 2012, Tessier was re-signed to his third consecutive one-year contract with the Whale. Despite a slow start to the 2012–13 season, Tessier still produced 11 goals and 13 assists from primarily a depth role in 71 games.

As the longest tenured Whale player, Tessier initially agreed to return to the renamed Wolf Pack for a fourth successive season. On July 15, 2013, Tessier was granted a release from his contract and signed a one-year deal with Swedish club, Rögle BK of the HockeyAllsvenskan. Tessier was attracted by Sporting director Anders Carlsson, who drafted him whilst a part of the Colorado Avalanche scouting department in 2008.

In the 2013–14 season, Tessier quickly established himself amongst Rögle's top offensive players. In 52 games, Tessier scored 42 points to lead the club and finish 6th in overall HockeyAllsvenskan points. With ambition to play at a higher level, Tessier left Rögle and signed a one-year contract with newly promoted Finnish Liiga club, Vaasan Sport, on April 30, 2014. Tessier played five scoreless games with Sport, before opting to return to the Allsvenskan with Karlskrona HK for the remainder of the season.

On July 14, 2015, Tessier signed a one-year contract in a return to newly promoted Rögle BK of the SHL. In the 2015–16 season, Tessier was reduced to a limited role in 10 games with Rögle before he mutually agreed to leave the club and sign with IF Björklöven of the Allsvenskan for the remainder of the season on December 30, 2015.

As a free agent in the off-season, Tessier moved to Austria, agreeing to an optional two-year deal with the Vienna Capitals of the EBEL on July 13, 2016.

Tessier played 9 seasons abroad in Europe, completing his last two seasons with French club, Dragons de Rouen of the Ligue Magnus, before opting to retire from professional hockey on May 23, 2023.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2006–07 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 63 23 27 50 40 5 1 5 6 0 2007–08 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 68 36 45 81 73 11 8 7 15 10 2008–09 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 64 25 35 60 43 17 9 2 11 21 2009–10 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 39 12 29 41 21 — — — — — 2009–10 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 15 7 5 12 12 21 14 16 30 14 2010–11 Hartford Wolf Pack/CT Whale AHL 75 10 18 28 19 6 0 1 1 2 2011–12 Connecticut Whale AHL 75 12 18 30 20 9 1 4 5 6 2012–13 Connecticut Whale AHL 71 11 13 24 30 — — — — — 2013–14 Rögle BK Allsv 52 15 27 42 48 16 8 1 9 8 2014–15 Vaasan Sport Liiga 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2014–15 Karlskrona HK Allsv 31 8 9 17 14 4 0 2 2 0 2015–16 Rögle BK SHL 10 2 1 3 0 — — — — — 2015–16 IF Björklöven Allsv 17 4 5 9 22 — — — — — 2016–17 Vienna Capitals EBEL 54 20 24 44 12 12 6 13 19 2 2017–18 Vienna Capitals EBEL 44 7 7 14 18 11 5 1 6 6 2018–19 Vienna Capitals EBEL 52 15 23 38 32 17 4 1 5 4 2019–20 VIK Västerås HK Allsv 50 11 29 40 22 1 1 1 2 0 2020–21 EC Bad Nauheim DEL2 49 20 29 49 24 — — — — — 2021–22 Dragons de Rouen FRA 43 13 23 36 20 13 1 3 4 12 2022–23 Dragons de Rouen FRA 44 28 29 57 12 16 6 10 16 33 AHL totals22133498269151568