Luke Kunin

On May 24, 2013, Kunin committed to play college ice hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers, starting in the 2015–16 season.[8] As he had finished high school early, Kunin entered the program as the youngest skater on the team, but he impressed coach Mike Eaves with his maturity, skating skill, and shooting abilities.[9] Although Wisconsin finished last in the Big Ten Conference that year with an 8–19–8 record, Kunin led the team with 18 goals and 33 points. He said afterwards that he believed he developed his skills significantly that season, particularly his 200-foot game, by playing regularly against older students at the collegiate level.[10] At the end of the year, he was the only member of the Badgers named to the 2016 All-Big Ten Freshmen Team.[11] After the season, the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected Kunin in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and he decided that he would spend one more year with the Badgers before transitioning to professional hockey.[12]

Leading into the 2016–17 college hockey season, Kunin was named captain of the Badgers, becoming the first sophomore to earn the title since Mike Eaves during the 1975–76 season.[13] Knowing that Kunin planned on leaving Wisconsin after the season, Badgers head coach Tony Granato spent the year preparing Kunin for the higher level of play that the NHL would require, turning him into a respectable two-way player.[14] He received two Big Ten Second Star of the Week awards that season: first on November 1 after scoring five points in a weekend series against the St. Lawrence Saints and Clarkson Golden Knights, respectively, and later on December 13 for scoring two goals in a 7–4 win over the Michigan Wolverines.[15] The Badgers came within one game of reaching the NCAA postseason, losing to Penn State in double overtime of the Big Ten Conference championship game. Kunin once again led all Badgers in scoring with 22 goals and 38 points, netting him an All-Big Ten Second Team placement, while Wisconsin won 12 more games that season than the last.[16] Despite losing the Big Ten tournament, Kunin was still named to the 2017 Big Ten All-Tournament Team at forward, the only Badger selected.[17] The American Hockey Coaches Association also named Kunin a Division I Second Team All-American for the West Region.[18]

Kunin with the Iowa Wild at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic

On March 23, 2017, Kunin agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Wild. The contract would be enacted in full for the 2017–18 season, and he would play with the Iowa Wild, Minnesota's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for the remainder of their 2016–17 season on an amateur tryout contract.[19] He played in 12 games for Iowa to close out their season, putting up five goals and three assists in the process.[20]

Kunin was one of the last players cut from the Wild roster before the 2017–18 season, his place in the lineup effectively taken by free agent signing Matt Cullen.[21] When a number of injuries befell the Wild roster, however, Kunin made his NHL debut on short notice,[22] skating in less than 14 minutes of the home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets before he was sent back down to save space on the team's salary cap.[23] During another brief recall on October 27, Kunin became the first player in franchise history to make his debut NHL goal short-handed. Zack Mitchell also scored his first NHL goal, the game-winner, during the same match, after telling Kunin before the game, "Let's both get our first, but I'll let you go first."[24] Still primarily an AHL player, Kunin was selected for the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic as the only representative from Iowa.[25] Kunin was once again called up to Minnesota on February 27 in order to give the team more energy as they finished out the season, but on March 4, during a game against the Detroit Red Wings, he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee. At the time, Kunin had played in 19 NHL games for the season, scoring two goals and two assists in the process.[26] He also played in 36 AHL games, with 10 goals and 19 points there.[27] He underwent surgery for the injury at the beginning of April, with an estimated recovery time of six to seven months.[28]

Kunin was medically cleared to begin playing hockey again on October 8, 2018, and was assigned to Iowa to continue his recovery and spend more time on the ice before rejoining the NHL for the 2018–19 season.[29] He spent the next few months moving up and down between the NHL and AHL. His first recall was on December 9, filling in for an injured Mikko Koivu.[30] He was meant to return to Iowa a week later, but an injury to Matt Dumba forced coach Bruce Boudreau to rearrange his offensive lines, and Kunin remained in Minnesota skating alongside Koivu and Jason Zucker.[31] He was briefly sent back down to Iowa at the end of January to play in two AHL games while Minnesota had an eight-day break,[32] and he was recalled to the NHL on February 4.[33] His point production was minimal during this final stretch, with only one goal and two assists in his last 18 NHL games of the season, but Kunin was given a gradually larger role for Minnesota in the hopes that he would become a staple of their lineup the following season.[34]

When Minnesota's season came to an end on April 9, Kunin was one of a handful of skaters sent back to Iowa to help them during their run for the Calder Cup. In his 49 games with Minnesota, Kunin scored six goals and 17 points while recording 27 penalty minutes. He also had nine goals and 16 points in 25 regular-season AHL games.[35] Kunin appeared in 11 playoff games, scoring six goals and eight points, before the Iowa Wild were eliminated by the Chicago Wolves.[36]

After a difficult start to the 2019–20 season, the Wild found a stable, productive line by mid-November in Kunin, Jordan Greenway, and Joel Eriksson Ek, affectionately referred to as the "GEEK Squad".[37] Primarily a checking line, Greenway and Eriksson Ek served as physical players tasked with preventing the opposing team from scoring, while also leaving Kunin open to score for Minnesota.[38] By the time that the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend the 2019–20 season in March, Kunin had scored 15 goals and 16 assists in 63 games. The Wild had clinched a spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, with Kunin invited to participate, but he was initially hesitant to break quarantine, as his diabetes diagnosis placed him at higher risk of suffering complications from the virus.[39] Kunin ultimately joined the team in Edmonton for a best-of-five qualifying series against the Vancouver Canucks.[40] Despite two goals from Kunin,[41] the Canucks won the series in four games.[42]

On October 7, 2020, the Wild traded Kunin and the 101st overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft to the Nashville Predators in exchange for skater Nick Bonino and two 2020 draft picks: No. 37 and No. 70 overall.[43] As a restricted free agent Kunin did not practice with his new team until he and the Predators had agreed to a contract extension[44] eventually signing a two-year, $4.6 million contract with the team on January 6, 2021.[45] Kunin's 2020–21 season started with two lower body injuries: the first sidelined him for four games at the start of February, while a more serious injury had him placed on the injured reserve on March 2.[46] He returned to the lineup on March 27, picking up two assists in a 3–1 defeat of the Chicago Blackhawks.[47] His return was accompanied by a hot streak, with Kunin scoring at least one point in five of his first six games back from injury, and the Predators went 14–6–1 during games he played.[48] He also scored six goals in the last nine games of the regular season, including two in the Predators' 3–1 defeat of the Carolina Hurricanes on May 8, which allowed Nashville to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.[49] The Predators faced the Hurricanes once again in the first round of playoffs, with Kunin scoring both the first and final goals in Game 4 to keep Nashville in the playoffs. Kunin's first goal came only 57 seconds into the game, while the game-winner came in double overtime.[50] The Predators would lose the series, however, in overtime of Game 6.[51] Kunin played in 38 games of the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season for Nashville, scoring 10 goals and 19 points in the process.[52]

Kunin started the 2021–22 season on a line with Mikael Granlund and Eeli Tolvanen; he had spent the previous season with Granlund, while Tolvanen replaced the departed Calle Järnkrok.[53] On December 4, 2021, Kunin's 24th birthday, he recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick, the first for Nashville since Ryan Johansen three years prior, en route to a 4–3 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens.[54]

On July 8, 2022, the Predators traded Kunin to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward John Leonard and a third-round selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.[55] As a restricted free agent, Kunin was later re-signed to a two-year, $5.5 million contract extension with the Sharks on July 18, 2022.[56] On December 20, it was announced that Kunin would miss the remainder of the 2022–23 season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which he sustained during a December 13 game against the Arizona Coyotes.[57][58]