Angelo Esposito Angelo Esposito ( born February 20 , 1989 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for SG Cortina of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins twentieth overall in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft . Playing career . Esposito ' s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League ( QMJHL ) career started in controversy . He was considered a possible first overall draft choice in the QMJHL , but told all general managers that he intended to play college hockey in the NCAA . As a result , he was passed up by the first ten picks in the QMJHL Draft . Just minutes before the Val d ' Or Foreurs were slated to make their pick , at eleventh overall , the Quebec Remparts announced that they had traded several players and draft choices to get the Foreurs ' drafting position and selected Esposito . A couple of weeks later , Esposito and the Remparts came to an agreement , despite his previously announced college hockey commitment . Esposito began his QMJHL rookie season , in 2005 – 06 , centering the first line . Esposito scored in his first regular season game on his very first shift against the Rimouski Océanic . By mid - season , Esposito was selected QMJHL Rookie of the Month twice and the Offensive Player of the Week once . However , after playing at the World U17 Hockey Challenge as the captain of Team Quebec , Esposito ' s offensive production slowed and was temporarily assigned to the third line at one point in the season . He finished his rookie campaign with 98 points , second among QMJHL ' s rookies , behind Claude Giroux , and was named the league rookie of the year . Along with wingers Mathieu Melanson ( 86 points ) and Alexander Radulov ( 152 points ) , the Remparts ' first line was the most productive scoring line in the entire league . Despite losing in the President ' s Cup final series 4 – 2 to the Moncton Wildcats , Esposito and the Remparts earned a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup as runner up to the tournament hosts . Although Esposito struggled in the QMJHL playoffs with just 11 points in 23 games , he contributed a strong 5 - point effort in 4 games during the Memorial Cup , helping the Remparts to a 6 – 2 victory in the final against Moncton . Impressing many in his major junior rookie season , Esposito was touted early as a possible first - overall pick for the 2007 NHL Entry Draft . He had , in fact , already drawn comparisons to former Remparts star Guy Lafleur . However , declining offensive production at the junior level – his points total fell from 98 to 79 – led to him eventually being picked twentieth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins . Esposito ' s offensive output declined once more to 69 points in his third QMJHL season in 2007 – 08 . On February 26 , 2008 , the Penguins traded his NHL rights to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Colby Armstrong , Erik Christensen , and a 2008 first - round draft pick in a trade - deadline deal for Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis . At the conclusion of his 2007 – 08 season with the Remparts , he made his professional debut with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) . In the off - season , he was traded in the QMJHL by the Remparts to the Montreal Juniors on June 7 , 2008 . On July 8 , 2011 , he was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Kenndal McArdle . On January 13 , 2012 , he was traded to the Dallas Stars for Ondrej Roman . After the 2011 - 2012 season was over Esposito became an unrestricted free agent . On July 26 , 2012 , he signed a one - year contract with the Finnish hockey club Lahti Pelicans . After producing 7 points in 29 games in the 2012 – 13 season with the Pelicans , Esposito was mutually released from the remainder of his contract and immediately moved to play in Italy with Hockey Milano Rossoblu from Milan on January 17 , 2013 . On July 21 , 2014 , Esposito returned to North America and signed a one - year contract in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Komets . After the season opening game of the 2014 - 15 season with the Komets , Esposito decided to take a hiatus from hockey and Fort Wayne waived and released him from his contract . After taking a years hiatus from professional hockey , Esposito returned to Italy signing a one - year contract with SG Cortina of the Serie A on September 5 , 2015 . He finished the season with 38 points in 31 games . International play . Esposito competed for Team Quebec as captain during his QMJHL rookie season in the 2006 World U - 17 Hockey Challenge , capturing gold . Later that year , he also captained Team Canada ' s under - 18 squad at the 2006 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and won another gold medal . After three years of being cut from Team Canada ' s World Junior Championships selection camp , he eventually made the team for the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa . He scored 4 points in 6 games , including the game winning goal in the gold medal game , helping Team Canada to its record - tying fifth straight gold medal . Awards . QMJHL Personal life . Born in Montréal , Québec , Esposito grew up figure skating before beginning to play organized hockey at the age of six . At ten - years - old , he made the decision between the two sports to focus on hockey . He attended high school first at Selwyn House School then Shattuck - Saint Mary ' s in Faribault , Minnesota , following in the footsteps of such NHL stars as Sidney Crosby , Zach Parise and Jonathan Toews . Despite his last name , famous in hockey circles , Esposito is not related to Hockey Hall of Fame rs Phil and Tony Esposito . He does , however , have uncles named Phil and Tony , in addition to sharing Phil Esposito ' s jersey number 7 and February 20 birth date .