Matt Nieto

**Matt Nieto** (born Matthew Evan Nieto on November 5, 1992 in Long Beach, California) is an American professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL.

He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the second round (47th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

As a youth, Matt played in the 2004 and 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Los Angeles Hockey Club minor ice hockey team where he was teammates with Emerson Etem & Rocco Grimaldi.

### Amateur Playing Career

Matt began attending Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut at the beginning of his sophomore year of high school.

In one season with the school's hockey team, he scored eight goals and ten assists in 28 games. The performance drew the attention of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and Matt subsequently moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play in the Program.

In the 2008–09 season, Matt played for the under-17 and under-18 teams, scoring 20 goals and 33 assists and six goals and eight assists, respectively.

The next season, he played for the Program's United States Hockey League (USHL) team, scoring 15 goals and 14 assists; he also returned to the under-17 team, scoring one goal.

After participating in the Program, Nieto was offered a chance to play major junior hockey for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL), but opted to attend college instead and play at the collegiate level.

When choosing colleges, he decided between Boston University and Boston College; he elected to attend the former on a full scholarship.

During his freshman year, Matt scored 10 goals and 13 assists. The next year, he scored 16 goals and 26 assists with a plus-minus rating of +19. In 2012, he scored 18 goals, second-most on the team behind Dan O'Regan, and 19 assists. He ended his Terriers career with 44 goals and 102 points in 115 games.

Matt was ranked the 43rd-best prospect and the second-best player in the NCAA's Hockey East conference by NHL.com among the 2011 draft class.

Hockey's Future stated he had struggled earlier in his career defensively, but had since improved. They added he had "explosive speed," and excels with puck handling and passing while moving. The website gave him a 7.5/10 talent score.

In the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Matt was selected by the San Jose Sharks with the 47th overall pick, their first pick of the draft. He also became the first Californian to be selected by the team.

### Professional Playing Career

On April 1, 2013, Matt signed a a three-year, $2.3 million contract with the Sharks. He spent time with the Sharks' then-AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, during the year, playing in 11 games. He scored two goals with four assists, a −4 plus-minus rating and six penalty minutes.

He made his NHL debut against the Vancouver Canucks on October 3, 2013, and scored his first career NHL goal against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers on October 8, off assists by Joe Pavelski & Tommy Wingels.

A month later, Matt returned to Worcester although though he was later recalled on December 7, 2013.

Despite being reassigned to the San Francisco Bulls of the ECHL on December 18, 2013 Matt was recalled by the Sharks three days later after an injury to forward Tomas Hertl.

On April 22, 2014, he scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal via an empty net goal against the Los Angeles Kings.

In the 2016–17 season, Matt struggled to retain his role in adding an offensive touch to the Shark's bottom six forwards. Surpassed in the depth chart, he played in just 16 games with 2 assists before he was placed on waivers in order to gain more playing time. He was claimed off waivers by the Colorado Avalanche on January 5, 2017.

On July 25, 2017, Matt and the Avalanche avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1 million contract. He set career high's in the 2018 season with 74 games played and 15 goals scored.

In July of 2018, the Avalanche signed Matt to a two-year deal worth $3.9 million.

## International Play

Matt was first selected to represent the United States at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships, posting four goals in seven games to help capture the gold medal.

He was reselected the following year and successfully defended Team USA's gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships.

## Personal Life

Matt is of Mexican-American descent. His father, Jesse, is a longshoreman, while his mother, Mary, is a Nordstrom makeup artist & is battling advanced breast cancer. He has an older sister, Christian-Faith and a younger sister, Erin, who has Down syndrome and autism.

He grew up in Long Beach, California, in a dangerous neighborhood; his mother had stated: "There were drive-by shootings. He jokes about it, that Snoop Dogg lived around the corner. It's true, but Matt wasn't born then."

When he was two years old, Matt became interested in skating (particularly rollerblading) when he saw his sister skating in the family's house. His grandfather later bought him a hockey stick. When he was three years old, he began playing roller hockey at the YMCA.