Kris Versteeg

**Kris Versteeg** (born Kristopher Royce Versteeg on May 13, 1986 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who has played in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and the Calgary Flames.

Versteeg was selected 134th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. He has won two Stanley Cups while in Chicago in 2010 & 2015.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

Kris was drafted 134th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins after a four-year Western Hockey League career spanning from 2002–03 to 2005–06, playing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kamloops Blazers and the Red Deer Rebels.

During his time with Lethbridge, Kris played with future Blackhawks teammate Brent Seabrook for three seasons. He made his professional debut, playing in the final 13 games of the 2005–06 season with the Boston Bruins' AHL affiliate team, the Providence Bruins.

### Professional

Kris remained with Providence for the beginning of 2006–07 before being traded by Boston on February 3, 2007 (along with a conditional draft pick) to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Brandon Bochenski. As a result, he moved within the AHL to Chicago's minor league affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.

Kris then played for the Rockford IceHogs in 2007–08, as Chicago switched its AHL affiliation. He made his NHL debut that season as he was called up for a total of 13 games, recording two goals and two assists. He played his first full season with the Blackhawks in 2008–09.

On January 1, 2009, he scored the opening goal of the 2009 Winter Classic held at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Red Wings.

Finishing the season with 22 goals and 53 points (second in rookie scoring to Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks), Kris was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year along with Ryan and goaltender Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets for his efforts. Mason ended up winning the Calder.

Kris's entry-level contract expired after the 2008–09 season, which would typically have made him a restricted free agent (RFA); however, a clerical error in which the Blackhawks failed to tender qualifying offers to their pending RFAs by the league deadline led to speculation that he and several of his teammates would become unrestricted free agents.

As a result, the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) filed a grievance on the players' behalf. Shortly thereafter, on July 8, 2009, Kris re-signed with the Blackhawks to a three-year contract, worth nearly US$9 million.

Kris's offensive production dropped in his second full NHL season, recording 20 goals and 44 points over 79 games.

In the 2010 playoffs, he added 14 points in 22 games, helping the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the Finals. His name was originally misspelled "Kris Vertseeg" when engraved on the Stanley Cup, but was quickly corrected.

Due to salary cap restraints, the Blackhawks were forced to trade away several players in the off-season (including Kris). On June 30, 2010, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with the rights to prospect Bill Sweatt in exchange for forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

Kris recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight) with the Maple Leafs in a game against the Ottawa Senators on October 9, 2010; he scored against Pascal Leclaire, assisted on a goal by Phil Kessel and fought Mike Fisher.

After recording 35 points over 53 games with the Maple Leafs in 2010–11, Kris was traded for the second time in his career on February 14, 2011. Toronto sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for first-round and third-round draft picks.

He joined the team that he helped defeat in the previous season's Stanley Cup Finals and scored seven goals to go with four assists during the remainder of the regular season.

Kris scored one goal during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which came in the final game of Philadelphia's fourth game 5–1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the second round.

On July 1, 2011, the Flyers traded Kris to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a second-round pick (either 2012 or 2013— Florida's choice) and a third-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The trade came just a few hours after the Flyers announced the signing of Jaromir Jagr.

On November 14, 2013, the Panthers traded Kris (along with Philippe Lefebvre) to the Blackhawks for Jimmy Hayes and Dylan Olsen.

Since his jersey #32 (which he wore during his first stint with the club) was being worn by Michal Rozsival, Kris opted to wear #23 upon his return to the club. On June 15, 2015, he won his second Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2-0 Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.

On Sept 11, 2015, Kris was again traded by the Blackhawks due to salary cap constraints (along with Joakim Nordstrom) to the Carolina Hurricanes along with a 3rd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft for a 5th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and two prospects.

The move was done to make more cap space available for Marcus Kruger, who was re-signed the next day. In the following 2015–16 season, he transitioned to the Hurricanes quickly and was used on the club's top scoring lines throughout the year.

Versteeg produced 33 points in 63 games before on February 28, 2016, he was familiarly traded at the trade deadline to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Valentin Zykov and a conditional 5th round pick in 2016 (if Los Angeles advanced to the 2016 Western Conference Final, failed).

Acquired by the Kings for depth in their playoff run, the team would fail to make it deep, losing in the first round to the San Jose Sharks. In his stint with the Kings, Kris scored 5 points in 14 games, while adding 2 more in the team's 5 playoff appearances.

On July 25, 2016, as a free agent from the Kings, Kris opted to pause his NHL career in agreeing to sign a one-year deal with the SC Bern of the Swiss NLA; however, he later failed to pass the medical exam in early September and therefore the contract was voided.

On September 9, 2016, he returned to continue his career in the NHL in agreeing to join the Edmonton Oilers at their training camp on a professional tryout basis.

After a successful training camp with the Oilers, on October 11, 2016, Kris rejected a contract offer from the Oilers, opting to instead join provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames on a one-year deal worth $900,000 in the NHL. He enjoyed a productive first season in Calgary, establishing himself as a key contributor on the powerplay.

Kris's eight goals with the man-advantage led the team, while his 15 total goals finished tied for fifth. He finished second in team scoring during the Flames' round-one series against the Anaheim Ducks, tallying a goal and three assists as the Flames were swept in four games.

With Kris and Flames management both interested in coming to terms on a new contract, they agreed to a one-year, $1.75 million contract on June 29, 2017. He played 24 games for the club after suffering a hip injury on November 24, 2017 and having surgery on December 4, 2017.

On September 1, 2018, Kris signed an overseas contract, joining Russian club, Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). During the 2018–19 season, he was limited to just 11 games with Omsk, recording 5 points, before opting to leave for the remainder of the season with Swedish club, Växjö Lakers of the SHL on February 7, 2019.

Kris contributed down the tail end of the regular season with 11 points through 12 games. He continued his scoring pace in the post season for the Lakers with 6 points in 7 games.

At the end of the Lakers' season, Kris left the organization to return to North America. On April 22, 2019, he signed a one-year contract with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL and would be named team captain. After appearing in just six games through injury, he announced that he was leaving the team on November 17, 2019.

With the intention to play out the remainder of the season before retiring, Kris signed a contract to join his brother Mitch at HK Nitra of the Tipsport liga on November 20, 2019. He retired from playing professional hockey on April 14, 2020.

## Personal Life

Kris's younger brother, Mitch is currently a defenseman with the HK Nitra of the Tipsport liga in Slovakia. He and his wife, Brittany have two sons and a daughter.

He has developed a reputation within the NHL for his habit of singing in public, as evidenced by his recitation of a portion of Fergie's "Glamorous" on Mouthpiece Sports, as well as performing an altered version of LMFAO's "Yes" during the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory parade.

He also sang Kanye West's verse of the Estelle song "American Boy" in a video clip on Blackhawks TV during his time with Chicago. He continued this tradition during the 2015 Championship Rally by singing Macklemore's "And We Danced" along with Joakim Nordström.

Kris has a tattoo on his upper right arm that reads "06 • 09 • 10" in commemoration of the date he won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Blackhawks.