Ryan Sproul (born January 13, 1993), also known as Sipulaoer Ruian, is a Canadian-born Chinese professional ice hockey defenceman. Born in Canada, he is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played with HC Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and represented China at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Sproul was drafted 55th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
| Ryan Sproul | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Sproul with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2015 | |||
| Born |
January 13, 1993 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| team Former teams |
Free agent Detroit Red Wings New York Rangers Kunlun Red Star | ||
| National team |
 China | ||
| NHL draft |
55th overall, 2011 Detroit Red Wings | ||
| Playing career | 2013–present | ||
Playing career
editJunior
editFollowing his first season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Sproul was selected in the second round, 55th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
During the 2011-12 season, Sproul was the third-leading scorer for the Greyhounds and was third amongst all OHL defensemen with 54 points. Sproul recorded 23 goals and 31 assists in 61 games for the Greyhounds.
During the 2012–13 OHL season, Sproul was the Greyhounds' second-leading scorer and led all OHL defensemen with 66 points. Sproul recorded 20 goals and 46 assists in 50 games. Sproul was rewarded for his outstanding play during the season by being named to the OHL's First All-Star Team.[1] Sproul was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the most outstanding defenceman in the Ontario Hockey League.
Professional
editOn March 25, 2012, the Red Wings signed Sproul to a three-year entry-level contract.[2]
After the Greyhounds were eliminated from the playoffs, Sproul joined the Grand Rapids Griffins for two regular-season games, making his AHL debut on April 20, 2013, in a game against the Lake Erie Monsters.[3]
During the 2013–14 season, in his first full season with the Griffins, Sproul was the second-highest scoring defenseman on the team, recording 11 goals and 21 assists in 72 games.[4] On April 13, 2014, Sproul made his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings in a game against the St. Louis Blues.[5]
On September 23, 2016, the Red Wings re-signed Sproul to a two-year contract.[6] On October 3, 2017, Sproul was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins.[7] On October 21, 2017, Sproul was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Matt Puempel.[8] He was initially assigned to the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and contributed with 10 goals and 25 points in 44 games. He was later recalled to play out the remaining season with the Rangers, collecting 5 points in 16 games.
As an unrestricted free agent, Sproul was unable to sign an NHL contract over the summer. He was invited to attend the Calgary Flames' training camp on a professional tryout.[9] After appearing in three preseason games, he was released by the Flames on September 26.[10] On October 14, Sproul signed a professional tryout with the Toronto Marlies.[11] After one game, Sproul was released from his tryout. He immediately signed another tryout contract, this time with the Laval Rocket, on October 25.[12] Sproul appeared in 11 games with the Rocket, producing 1 goal and 5 points before he was released from his tryout on November 29, 2018. On December 4, Sproul joined his third AHL club for the season, securing an AHL contract for the remainder of the campaign with the Hershey Bears, affiliate to the Washington Capitals.[13]
International play
editDue to his stint in China, Sproul was called up to represent the China men's national ice hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics on January 28, 2022.[14]
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2009–10 | Bramalea Blues | OJHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Vaughan Vipers | OJHL | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Vaughan Vipers | OJHL | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 61 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 61 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | OHL | 50 | 20 | 46 | 66 | 45 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 72 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 49 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 66 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 75 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 2016–17 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 27 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 44 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | New York Rangers | NHL | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 52 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 41 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 47 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 48 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 48 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 48 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 44 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| KHL totals | 232 | 24 | 59 | 83 | 103 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | China | OG | 12th | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | China | WC D2A | 27th | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2023 | China | WC D1B | 25th | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Senior totals | 13 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 4 | ||||
Awards and honors
edit| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| OHL | ||
| Third All-Star Team | 2011–12 | [15] |
| First All-Star Team | 2012–13 | |
| Defenceman of the Year | 2012–13 | [16] |
| CHL Defenceman of the Year | 2012–13 | [17] |
| AHL | ||
| All-Rookie Team | 2013–14 | [18] |
References
edit- ^ "Sproul Named OHL First Team All-Star". cksn.ca. May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
- ^ Bowness, Rick (March 25, 2012). "Sproul, Ouellet sign entry-level contracts". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ "Ryan Sproul player profile". American Hockey League. April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
- ^ "Wings in Waiting: Ryan Sproul". Detroit Red Wings. July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- ^ Kujawa, Kyle (April 12, 2014). "Red Wings recall Ouellet and Sproul". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- ^ Kujawa, Kyle (September 23, 2016). "Red Wings re-sign Ryan Sproul". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- ^ Kujawa, Kyle (October 3, 2017). "Sproul assigned to Griffins". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- ^ Kujawa, Kyle (October 21, 2017). "Detroit acquires Matt Puempel from New York Rangers". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
- ^ "Sproul hopes to get green light for NHL gig with Flames". Calgary Flames. September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ^ Francis, Eric. "PTO players released by Flames: Gilbert Brule (RW), Jeff Glass (G), Ryan Sproul (D) and Viktor Svedberg (D). Five on waivers (to be sent to minors): Tyler Graovac (C), Morgan Klimchuk (LW), Alan Quine (C), Buddy Robinson (RW) and Kerby Rychel (LW)". Twitter. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- ^ "Marlies sign defenseman Ryan Sproul". Toronto Marlies. October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Laval Rocket sign Ryan Sproul to PTO". Laval Rocket. October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ "Bears sign defenseman Sproul". Hershey Bears. December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
- ^ "China's Olympic hockey hopes rest on North American talent". sports.yahoo.com.
- ^ "OHL Announces 2012-13 All-Star Teams". Ontario Hockey League. April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ "Hounds' Sproul OHL Defenceman of Year". Ontario Hockey League. April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "CHL Announces 2012-13 Award Winners". Memorial Cup. May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
- ^ "2013-14 AHL All-Rookie Team announced". American Hockey League. April 2, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database