Alexandre R. Picard

Alexandre Remi Picard (born July 5, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL).

This article is about the hockey defenceman. For the left winger of the same name, see Alexandre Picard (ice hockey).

Alexandre R. Picard
Picard with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011
Born (1985-07-05) July 5, 1985
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 222 lb (101 kg; 15 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ottawa Senators
Carolina Hurricanes
Montreal Canadiens
Pittsburgh Penguins
HC Lev Praha
Graz 99ers
ERC Ingolstadt
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
Düsseldorfer EG
NHL Draft 85th overall, 2003
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 2005–2019

Playing career

As a youth, Picard played in the 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Outaouais Intrepides minor ice hockey team.[1]

Picard began his career by playing major junior hockey for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. The team was highly successful while he was there, even helping them reach the President's Cup finals in 2002–03. In fact, following that season, he was one of eight players on the team chosen in 2003 NHL Entry Draft.[2] However, he was among several players traded to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, but returned to the Mooseheads for his final season in the QMJHL.

Following the post-season, Picard went to Philadelphia, and began to work-out with the Philadelphia Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, who were in the Calder Cup finals. When teammate Randy Jones was injured in game two, he was signed to an amateur tryout contract to fill the roster spot. So, Picard played alongside veteran John Slaney in about a dozen shifts in games three and four to help the Phantoms sweep the Chicago Wolves.

A month later, the Flyers announced that they had signed Picard to a three-year contract to fill the spot left on the Phantoms roster by Patrick Sharp. So, Picard played his first full professional season for the Phantoms, and also played six games for the Flyers in four stints. He was also called up to be backup for the Flyers during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Picard began the 2006–07 NHL season with the Phantoms, but after just six games, he was called up to replace the injured Mike Rathje and began his rookie season in the NHL. Picard proved he could stay in the NHL when, on February 1, 2007, he recorded five assists in a game against the New Jersey Devils, setting a new rookie record and nearly tying the franchise record set by Eric Lindros.[3]

Picard was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 25, 2008 (along with a draft pick), for forward Vaclav Prospal.[4]

On August 29, 2008, Picard was traded to the Ottawa Senators along with Filip Kuba and a first round draft pick for Andrej Meszaros. On February 12, 2010, Picard, who had been a healthy scratch for much of the season, along with Ottawa's second round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Matt Cullen.[5]

On July 31, 2010, Picard signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.[6]

On July 5, 2011, Picard was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins worth $600,000 at the NHL level.[7] He split the 2011–12 season between Pittsburgh and AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, appearing in 17 NHL games for 4 assists.

Picard who was in a familiar role as a free agent at season's end, embarked upon a European career, signing with Czech club, HC Lev Praha of the Kontinental Hockey League. Picard followed his season in the KHL with stints in Austria and Germany before continuing his journeyman career by signing a two-year contract with Swiss club, HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NLA on June 19, 2015.[8]

When his contract was up in Switzerland, he moved back to Germany, signing with DEL outfit Düsseldorfer EG in April 2017.[9]

Following his second season with DEG in 2018–19 and after a first round defeat to Augsburger Panther, Picard announced his retirement from a 14-year professional playing career.[10]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Gatineau L'Intrépide QMAAA 42 6 15 21 38 11 0 1 1 8
2001–02 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 59 2 12 14 28 13 2 3 5 6
2002–03 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 71 4 30 34 64 25 1 5 6 14
2003–04 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 57 10 26 36 44 5 0 0 0 0
2004–05 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 68 15 23 38 46 13 1 5 6 14
2004–05 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 75 7 26 33 82 — — — — —
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 6 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2006–07 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 6 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 62 3 19 22 17 — — — — —
2007–08 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 53 8 30 38 31 — — — — —
2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2007–08 Norfolk Admirals AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 20 3 3 6 8 — — — — —
2008–09 Ottawa Senators NHL 47 6 8 14 8 — — — — —
2009–10 Ottawa Senators NHL 45 4 11 15 20 — — — — —
2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 9 0 0 0 6 — — — — —
2010−11 Montreal Canadiens NHL 43 3 5 8 17 — — — — —
2011–12 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 43 8 13 21 20 12 0 6 6 6
2011−12 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 17 0 4 4 4 — — — — —
2012–13 HC Lev Praha KHL 11 1 1 2 4 — — — — —
2013–14 Graz 99ers EBEL 43 3 16 19 50 — — — — —
2014–15 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 29 0 13 13 24 18 3 6 9 10
2015–16 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NLA 37 2 7 9 2 5 0 2 2 2
2016–17 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NLA 35 1 4 5 12 — — — — —
2017–18 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 45 1 10 11 16 — — — — —
2018–19 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 50 0 8 8 30 7 0 1 1 8
AHL totals 178 24 71 95 135 14 0 6 6 6
NHL totals 253 19 50 69 86 — — — — —

Awards and honours
Award Year
QMJHL
Second All-Star Team 2005

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  2. "Mooseheads Team History". Halifax Mooseheads. January 2, 2010. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  3. "Devils 6, Flyers 5, OT". NHL.com. February 1, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  4. "Flyers Acquire Vaclav Prospal". NHL.com. February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  5. LeBrun, Pierre (February 12, 2010). "Canes acquire Picard plus 2010 pick". espn.in. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  6. "Picard signs one-year deal". Montreal Canadiens. July 31, 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  7. Vukovcan, Mike (June 6, 2011). "Pens Sign Alexandre Picard". pittsburgh.cbslocal.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  8. "Alexandre Picard avec Fribourg-Gottéron pour 2015/2016". HC Fribourg-Gottéron (in French). June 19, 2015. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  9. "Düsseldorfer EG: Ehemaliger NHL-Profi Picard unterschreibt für ein Jahr". RP ONLINE. April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. "How DEG will plan its future" (in German). rp-online.de. April 6, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
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