Paul Thompson (ice hockey, born 1988)

Paul Thompson (born November 30, 1988) is an American ice hockey forward who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played with the Bridgeport Islanders in the American Hockey League (AHL). During the 2010–11 season, he was the Hockey East player of the year, led the Hockey East in scoring, and then led the nation in power play goals while playing with the University of New Hampshire.[1]

Paul Thompson
Born (1988-11-30) November 30, 1988
Derry, New Hampshire, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
team
Former teams		 Free agent
New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present

Playing career

Born in Derry, New Hampshire, Thompson began playing hockey at age five.[2] He became a fan of the UNH hockey team while his elder cousin, Mike Souza, played on the team.[3] He later attended Pinkerton Academy where he played hockey his freshman and sophomore year. While at Pinkerton he also played Baseball and Football.[2] The next two years he played for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.[4] After scoring fifty one goals in fifty games in the 2006–07 season, Thompson was named the EJHL Offensive Player of the Year.[5] In 2007, he was ranked seventy second among North American hockey players by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was the highest ranked North American player to not be selected in the NHL Entry Draft that year.[6]

He then attended the University of New Hampshire where he is a Health Management major.[7] Thompson scored his first college hat trick on November 17, 2007 in a game against Providence College.[2][8] In the 2009–10 season he scored thirty nine points, second on the team to Bobby Butler.[5] Thompson is now the highest scoring New Hampshire native on the UNH ice hockey team in the past thirty years.[9] He is a finalist for the 2011 Hobey Baker Award.[1]

In March 2011 he signed a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.[10] He then began playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On February 6, 2014, Thompson was traded by the Penguins to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Spencer Machacek.[11]

As a free agent in the off-season, Thompson signed a one-year AHL contract with the Albany Devils. Prior to the 2014–15 season, he attended NHL parent club, the New Jersey Devils training camp.[12]

On July 1, 2015, Thompson signed a two-year, two-way free agent contract with the New Jersey Devils.[13] To begin the 2015–16 season, Thompson was returned to continue his tenure with the Albany Devils in the AHL. On January 8, 2016, Thompson received his first NHL recall by the Devils, and made his debut that night in a 4-1 defeat to the Boston Bruins.[14] After three scoreless games with New Jersey, Thompson was reassigned to Albany to finish the season, compiling 35 points in 56 games.

On June 10, 2016, the New Jersey Devils traded Thompson along with teammate Graham Black to the Florida Panthers in exchange of Marc Savard's contract and a second-round pick in 2018 NHL Entry Draft.[15]

On July 1, 2017, having left the Panthers as a free agent, Thompson agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with expansion club, the Vegas Golden Knights.[16] In the 2017–18 season, Thompson was reassigned by the Golden Knights to AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, for the duration of the year. He played in every regular season game with the Wolves, posting 24 goals and 38 points.

On July 2, 2018, Thompson opted to return to the Florida Panthers organization as a free agent, securing a two-year, two-way deal.[17]

After concluding his contract within the Panthers organization and Springfield Thunderbirds, Thompson left as a free agent to continue his career in the AHL by signing with the Hartford Wolf Pack, affiliate of the New York Rangers on October 10, 2020.[18]

As a free agent, Thompson extended his career in the following 2021–22 season, agreeing to a one-year AHL contract with Bridgeport Islanders and assigned to ECHL affiliate, the Worcester Railers, on October 19, 2021.[19]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2005–06 New Hampshire Junior Monarchs EJHL 38 13 17 30 20 — — — — —
2006–07 New Hampshire Junior Monarchs EJHL 44 45 38 83 56 — — — — —
2007–08 University of New Hampshire HE 35 6 6 12 22 — — — — —
2008–09 University of New Hampshire HE 27 4 5 9 22 — — — — —
2009–10 University of New Hampshire HE 39 19 20 39 24 — — — — —
2010–11 University of New Hampshire HE 39 28 24 52 32 — — — — —
2010–11 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 6 1 2 3 2 4 0 1 1 2
2011–12 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 67 10 15 25 37 12 2 1 3 2
2011–12 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 1 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 58 20 9 29 84 15 3 3 6 21
2013–14 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 39 4 3 7 50 — — — — —
2013–14 Springfield Falcons AHL 30 4 4 8 50 5 0 0 0 5
2014–15 Albany Devils AHL 73 33 22 55 67 — — — — —
2015–16 Albany Devils AHL 56 13 22 35 96 10 3 1 4 16
2015–16 New Jersey Devils NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2016–17 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 51 19 23 42 57 — — — — —
2016–17 Florida Panthers NHL 21 0 3 3 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Chicago Wolves AHL 76 24 14 38 108 3 0 0 0 2
2018–19 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 72 26 27 53 111 — — — — —
2019–20 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 54 13 15 28 70 — — — — —
2020–21 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 24 6 9 15 40 — — — — —
2021–22 Worcester Railers ECHL 10 2 3 5 12 — — — — —
2021–22 Bridgeport Islanders AHL 32 6 8 14 53 — — — — —
2022–23 Bridgeport Islanders AHL 59 13 8 21 107 — — — — —
NHL totals 24 0 3 3 24 — — — — —

Awards and honors
Award Year
College
All-Hockey East First Team 2010–11 [20]
AHCA East First-Team All-American 2010–11

References
  1. "Paul Thompson Wins Hockey East Player of the Year". WMUR. March 17, 2011. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  2. Rose, Lauren (November 13, 2008). "No sophomore jinx for Paul Thompson". Derry News. Derry, NH. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  3. Lessels, Allen (March 25, 2011). "Local boy makes good". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  4. Pike, Al (March 24, 2011). "N.H. native Thompson has dream career with Wildcats". Seacoastonline.com. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. Labor, Anthony (November 22, 2010). "Hometown hero: UNH senior Thompson thriving". Seacoastonline.com. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  6. McMahon, Mike (December 13, 2010). "Thompson follows cousin to UNH, paves his own path". The Eagle-Tribune. North Andover, MA. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  7. Merritt, Andrew (February 24, 2011). "New Hampshire boasts punch line". New England Hockey Journal. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  8. "Friars fall to Wildcats in overtime". The Providence Journal. November 18, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  9. Lessels, Allen (January 31, 2011). "Allen Lessels' UNH Notebook: Maine event set". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  10. "Thompson signs with Penguins". USA Today. Associated Press. March 28, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  11. "Penguins trade Thompson to Blue Jackets for Machacek". The Sports Network. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  12. "Defenseman Eric Gelinas re-signs with Devils". FireandIce.com. September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  13. "Thompson inks two-year, two-way contract". New Jersey Devils. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  14. "Vatrano's early goal leads Bruins past Devils". CBS Sports. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  15. "Devils trade for Savard's contract". The Sports Network. June 10, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  16. "Golden Knights sign 6 free agents". Las Vegas Sun. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  17. "Panthers agree to terms with Thompson and MacDonald". Florida Panthers. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  18. Hartford Wolf Pack (October 10, 2020). "Paul Thompson signs a contract with the Wolf Pack". Twitter. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  19. Fornabaioctp (October 19, 2021). "Bridgeport signs Paul Thompson". Twitter. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  20. "Hockey East First-Team All-Stars". hockeyeastonline.com. April 1, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
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