Matt Ellison

Matt Ellison (born December 8, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Drafted in the 2002 NHL entry draft by Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), Ellison played for the Blackhawks minor teams with two stints in the NHL, before being traded in 2005 to the Philadelphia Flyers. After being traded to the Nashville Predators in 2007, Ellison played one season for the Predators AHL team before moving to play in Europe in 2008. Ellison most notably played abroad in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career Ellison began his career with the Cowichan Valley Capitals, a junior hockey team that is a part of the BCHL, in 1999–00. In his rookie season he was selected as the club's Co-Rookie of the Year. He played there for three years and received several honors including the Capital's Three Star Award winner and MVP, and led the team in scoring with 66 points in 2000–01 and again with 117 points in 2001–02. He was then drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fourth round (128th overall) of the 2002 NHL entry draft.

He proceeded to play with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL during the 2002–03 season before joining the Norfolk Admirals for the 2003–04 season of the AHL. He played two seasons with the Norfolk Admirals and was promoted to the Blackhawks to start the 2005–06 season.

On December 5, 2005, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Patrick Sharp and Éric Meloche. He spent most of his time in Philadelphia playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms and was traded to the Nashville Predators on June 4, 2007, for future considerations.

On July 4, 2008, Ellison signed a one-year contract in Latvia with the Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League. Ellison scored 39 points in 55 games, placing second with Riga in scoring for 2008–09. On August 4, 2009, he then signed a contract with fellow KHL team, HC MVD.

After three successful seasons with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Ellison left the KHL and signed a one-year contract with Swiss club, EHC Biel of the NLA on June 26, 2013. Ellison subsequently left Biel and returned to the KHL to play for Zagreb in the 2013–14 season. In 2014, Ellison signed a two-year contract with Belarusian club, HC Dinamo Minsk, starting from the 2014–15 season.

After three prolific seasons with Minsk, leading the club in scoring in his final two, Ellison left as a free agent to sign a lucrative two-year contract with larger Russian club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, on June 7, 2017.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998–99 Kerry Park Islanders VIJHL 38 40 47 87 110 — — — — — 1998–99 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1999–2000 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCHL 60 11 23 34 95 — — — — — 2000–01 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCHL 60 22 44 66 102 — — — — — 2001–02 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCHL 60 42 75 117 76 9 5 6 11 8 2002–03 Red Deer Rebels WHL 72 40 56 96 80 22 7 13 20 28 2003–04 Norfolk Admirals AHL 71 14 21 35 115 7 0 1 1 4 2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 10 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2004–05 Norfolk Admirals AHL 71 14 37 51 44 5 0 1 1 2 2005–06 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 26 3 9 12 17 — — — — — 2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 5 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 48 12 13 25 35 — — — — — 2006–07 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 62 12 27 39 43 — — — — — 2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2007–08 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 75 26 32 58 55 5 0 0 0 2 2008–09 Dinamo Riga KHL 55 15 22 37 84 3 0 1 1 0 2009–10 HC MVD KHL 52 16 18 34 102 22 4 5 9 10 2010–11 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 53 21 29 50 28 — — — — — 2011–12 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 25 10 10 20 14 — — — — — 2012–13 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 33 3 14 17 10 — — — — — 2013–14 EHC Biel NLA 7 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2013–14 KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL 38 8 7 15 28 4 3 0 3 0 2014–15 HC Dinamo Minsk KHL 58 24 33 57 38 5 1 2 3 2 2015–16 HC Dinamo Minsk KHL 54 26 29 55 54 — — — — — 2016–17 HC Dinamo Minsk KHL 54 16 33 49 85 5 2 0 2 2 2017–18 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 55 20 25 45 24 10 2 2 4 27 2018–19 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 62 20 35 55 34 6 2 0 2 0 AHL totals 327 78 130 208 292 17 0 2 2 8 NHL totals 43 3 11 14 19 — — — — — KHL totals 539 179 255 434 501 55 14 10 24 41

Awards and honours

Award Year WHL Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy 2003 East Second All-Star Team 2003 CHL All-Rookie Team 2003 CHL Rookie of the Year 2003 KHL All-Star Game 2016, 2017