Mitchell Stephens

Mitchell Stephens (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was selected in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2015 NHL entry draft and won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Stephens has also previously played for the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Kraken.

Junior career Amateur Stephens was born on February 5, 1997, in Peterborough, Ontario to parents Lee and Heather. Growing up in Peterborough, Stephens played in the Peterborough Minor Hockey Council's AAA Petes program before joining the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). While playing with the Minor Midget AAA Toronto Marlboros, Stephens helped lead the team to a Kraft Cup title and Scotiabank GTHL Playoffs championship during the 2012–13 season. He reached this achievement by recording 44 goals and 84 points in 58 regular-season games. As a result of his play, Stephens was drafted eighth overall by the Saginaw Spirit in the 2013 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection draft.

Major junior

His outstanding play with Saginaw was recognized when he was chosen to skate as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. During the 2014–15 season, Stephens was chosen to skate at the 2015 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

In his final season with Saginaw in 2015–16, Stephens made 43 appearances, tallying 22 goals and 19 assists, while being named team MVP. He missed a significant number of games due to a broken foot that season. Stephens returned to the OHL for the 2016–17 season. Stephens was named captain of the Spirit with alternates Kris Bennett, C.J. Garcia, and Keaton Middleton. He remained captain of the team until January 2017 when he was traded to the London Knights in exchange for various draft picks. At the time of the trade, Stephens scored 62 goals to rank 14th all-time in franchise history. However, Stephens played only 29 regular season games with the Knights and 14 playoff games before returning to the Crunch. and was sent to their American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Syracuse Crunch, on an amateur try-out contract. He subsequently made his professional debut with the Crunch on April 8, 2016. He finished the season with the Crunch, recording one goal in five games.

On December 9, 2019, Stephens made his NHL debut in a 5–1 Lightning loss to the visiting New York Islanders at Amalie Arena. On December 28, 2019, Stephens recorded his first career NHL goal in 5–4 Lightning win over the Montreal Canadiens. On August 3, 2020, Stephens skated in his first career NHL playoff game, recording his first career NHL playoff goal and point. As a result, he signed a two-year contract extension to remain with the Lightning on October 7, 2020. Stephens saw limited playing time during the 2020–21 season due to injury, appearing in just seven games with the Lightning and four additional games with the Crunch.

Detroit Red Wings On July 30, 2021, Stephens was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft. While attending the Red Wings training camp, Stephens earned praise from coach Jeff Blashill for his skating ability and energy while projecting he would play on their fourth line. During the 2021–22 season, he skated in 27 games with the Red Wings, scoring six points. His season was interrupted by a lower-body injury that kept him out from November 13, 2021 to April 8, 2022.

Stephens (left) during a game against the Boston Bruins in December 2024.

Montreal Canadiens On July 13, 2022, Stephens signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Montreal Canadiens. Stephens participated in the Canadiens' 2023 training camp, but was placed on waivers and after going unclaimed, was assigned to Laval to start the 2023–24 season. He was recalled by Montreal on December 1, 2023. He made his Canadiens debut in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on December 2 playing on the fourth line with Jesse Ylönen and Joel Armia. He scored his first goal for the Canadiens in a 5–2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on December 23.

Seattle Kraken As an unrestricted free agent entering the NHL free agency period, Stephens signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 1, 2024.

Having completed his two year tenure with the Kraken, Stephens opted to remain within the organization, signing a two-year AHL contract with the Coachella Valley Firebirds on 8 July 2026.

International play Stephens competed as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He was also invited to compete with the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament where he helped Team Canada win gold. In April 2015, he captained the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team to a bronze medal as the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships.

Personal life Stephens is the cousin to Owen Tippett of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2012–13 Toronto Marlboros GTMMHL 58 44 40 84 12 — — — — — 2013–14 Saginaw Spirit OHL 57 9 12 21 8 5 0 2 2 2 2014–15 Saginaw Spirit OHL 62 22 26 48 44 4 0 0 0 0 2015–16 Saginaw Spirit OHL 39 20 18 38 14 4 2 1 3 0 2015–16 Syracuse Crunch AHL 5 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2016–17 Saginaw Spirit OHL 22 11 17 28 14 — — — — —2016–17London KnightsOHL29111425121473102 2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL — — — — — 3 0 0 0 0 2017–18 Syracuse Crunch AHL 70 19 22 41 24 7 1 5 6 4 2018–19 Syracuse Crunch AHL 32 11 13 24 6 4 0 1 1 2 2019–20 Syracuse Crunch AHL 24 5 5 10 15 — — — — — 2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 38 3 3 6 10 7 1 0 1 2 2020–21 Syracuse Crunch AHL 4 1 7 8 0 — — — — — 2020–21 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 7 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2021–22 Detroit Red Wings NHL 27 0 6 6 8 — — — — — 2022–23 Laval Rocket AHL 68 20 21 41 49 — — — — — 2023–24 Laval Rocket AHL 49 13 22 35 16 — — — — — 2023–24 Montreal Canadiens NHL 23 2 1 3 4 — — — — — 2024–25 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 35 6 7 13 23 2 3 0 3 0 2024–25 Seattle Kraken NHL 28 1 2 3 6 — — — — — 2025–26 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 69 12 15 27 22 12 2 2 4 6 NHL totals 123 6 13 19 28 7 1 0 1 2

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2014 Canada Ontario U17 5th 5 0 2 2 6 2014 Canada IH18 5 4 2 6 2 2015 Canada WJC18 7 5 5 10 10 2016 Canada WJC 6th 5 1 1 2 2 2017 Canada WJC 5 2 3 5 0 Junior totals 27 12 13 25 20

Awards and honours Award YearCHL CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2015 AHL All-Star Game 2018 NHL Stanley Cup champion 2020, 2021 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal 2014 IIHF World U18 Championship Bronze Medal 2015 IIHF World U18 Championship Top 3 Player on Team 2015