List of Latvians in the NHL

This is a list of Latvian ice hockey players who have played in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Apart from the players listed below, there have been several NHL players of Latvian descent. Harold Snepsts, Mike Knuble as well as Aris Brimanis and Jarrod Skalde are among such examples.

Players

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This is a list of players drafted in the NHL Amateur and Entry Draft. In 1975 Viktor Khatulev became the first Latvian and also the first Soviet hockey player to be drafted.

Name Position Draft
Year
Club Round No.
Klavs Veinbergs F 2022 Tampa Bay Lightning 7 224
Sandis Vilmanis F 2022 Florida Panthers 5 157
Dans Locmelis F 2022 Boston Bruins 4 119
Raivis Ansons F 2020 Pittsburgh Penguins 5 149
Artūrs Šilovs G 2019 Vancouver Canucks 6 156
Rodrigo Ābols F 2016 Vancouver Canucks 7 184
Mārtiņš Dzierkals F 2015 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 68
Kārlis Čukste D 2015 San Jose Sharks 5 130
Rūdolfs Balcers F 2015 Ottawa Senators 5 142
Elvis Merzļikins G 2014 Columbus Blue Jackets 3 76
Edgars Kulda F 2014 Arizona Coyotes 7 193
Kristers Gudļevskis G 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning 5 124
Zemgus Girgensons F 2012 Buffalo Sabres 1 14
Teodors Bļugers F 2012 Vancouver Canucks 2 52
Kristiāns Pelšs F 2010 Edmonton Oilers 7 181
Kaspars Daugaviņš F 2006 Ottawa Senators 3 91
Artūrs Kulda D 2006 Atlanta Thrashers 7 200
Oskars Bārtulis D 2005 Philadelphia Flyers 3 91
Mārtiņš Karsums F 2004 Boston Bruins 2 64
Raimonds Daņiličs F 2003 Tampa Bay Lightning 8 255
Lauris Dārziņš F 2003 Nashville Predators 9 268
Jēkabs Rēdlihs D 2002 Columbus Blue Jackets 4 119
Krišjānis Rēdlihs D 2002 New Jersey Devils 5 154
Armands Bērziņš F 2002 Minnesota Wild 5 155
Juris Štāls F 2001 New York Rangers 9 269
Agris Saviels D 2000 Colorado Avalanche 2 63
Jānis Sprukts F 2000 Florida Panthers 8 234
Kaspars Astašenko D 1999 Tampa Bay Lightning 5 127
Georgijs Pujacs D 1999 Boston Bruins 9 264
Kārlis Skrastiņš D 1998 Nashville Predators 8 230
Aleksandrs Andrejevs D 1997 Phoenix Coyotes 8 207
Aleksandrs Kerčs F 1993 Edmonton Oilers 3 60
Harijs Vītoliņš F 1993 Winnipeg Jets 9 228
Sergejs Žoltoks F 1992 Boston Bruins 3 55
Grigorijs Panteļejevs F 1992 Boston Bruins 6 136
Viktors Ignatjevs D 1992 San Jose Sharks 11 243
Sandis Ozoliņš D 1991 San Jose Sharks 2 30
Artūrs Irbe G 1989 Minnesota North Stars 10 196
Helmuts Balderis F 1989 Minnesota North Stars 12 238
Harijs Vītoliņš F 1988 Montreal Canadiens 9 228
Viktors Hatuļevs F 1975 Philadelphia Flyers 9 160

Red players have not played in the NHL.

There have also been 7 undrafted Latvian NHL players - Herberts Vasiļjevs, Pēteris Skudra, Raitis Ivanāns, Ronalds Ķēniņš, Matīss Kivlenieks, Kristiāns Rubīns and Uvis Balinskis.

Statistics

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Sandis Ozoliņš is the record-holder in all categories, while Kārlis Skrastiņš owned the NHL record for most consecutive games by a defenceman.

Regular season

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Skaters

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Players marked in green are currently still active as of the 2023–24 NHL season

GP - Games Played; G - Goals A - Assists P - Points

PIM - Penalty Minutes
Name Position GP G A P PIM
Sandis Ozoliņš D 875 167 397 564 638
Sergejs Žoltoks F 588 111 147 258 166
Zemgus Girgensons F 688 89 99 188 192
Kārlis Skrastiņš D 832 32 104 136 375
Teodors Bļugers F 336 41 85 126 127
Rūdolfs Balcers F 170 28 34 62 50
Raitis Ivanāns F 282 12 6 18 569
Herberts Vasiļjevs F 51 8 7 15 22
Kaspars Daugaviņš F 91 6 9 15 21
Grigorijs Panteļejevs F 54 8 6 14 12
Ronalds Ķēniņš F 38 4 8 12 14
Helmuts Balderis F 26 3 6 9 2
Oskars Bārtulis D 66 1 8 9 32
Mārtiņš Karsums F 24 1 5 6 6
Jānis Sprukts F 14 1 2 3 2
Kaspars Astašenko D 23 1 2 3 8
Uvis Balinskis D 26 1 2 3 8
Artūrs Kulda D 15 0 2 2 8
Viktors Ignatjevs D 11 0 1 1 6
Harijs Vītoliņš F 8 0 0 0 4
Aleksandrs Kerčs F 5 0 0 0 2
Kristiāns Rubīns D 3 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders

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Players marked in green are currently still active as of the [[2023–24 NHL season||2023-24 NHL Season]]

GP - Games Played Mins - Minutes Played A - Assists PIM - Penalty Minutes GA - Goals Against GAA - Goals Against Average W - Wins L - Losses T - Ties (Overtime Loss since 2005-06) SO - Shutouts Saves - Shots Saved

Save% - Percentage of Shots Saved
Name GP Mins A PIM GA GAA W L T SO Saves Save%
Artūrs Irbe 568 32,066 9 90 1,513 2.83 218 236 79 33 14,092 0.899
Elvis Merzļikins 191 10,451 4 16 558 3.20 68 79 30 10 5,261 0.904
Pēteris Skudra 146 7,163 2 6 326 2.73 51 47 20 6 3,078 0.894
Artūrs Šilovs 9 549 0 0 24 2.77 6 2 1 0 212 0.898
Matīss Kivlenieks 6 285 0 0 14 2.95 1 1 2 0 137 0.898
Kristers Gudļevskis 3 132 0 0 3 1.37 1 0 1 0 73 0.959

Playoffs

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Scoring

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Name Pos GP G A P PIM
Sandis Ozoliņš D 137 23 67 90 131
Sergejs Žoltoks F 45 4 14 18 0
Teodors Bļugers F 37 2 4 6 10
Kārlis Skrastiņš D 20 0 3 3 12
Ronalds Ķēniņš F 5 1 1 2 4
Oskars Bārtulis D 7 0 0 0 4
Kaspars Daugaviņš F 7 0 0 0 2
Viktors Ignatjevs D 1 0 0 0 2

Goaltenders

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Name GP Mins GA GAA W L SO Saves Save Pct.
Artūrs Irbe 51 2,981 142 2.86 23 27 0 1,439 0.901
Artūrs Šilovs 10 598 29 2.91 5 4 1 254 0.898
Pēteris Skudra 3 116 6 2 0 1 0 51 0.895
Kristers Gudļevskis 2 40 2 3.02 0 1 0 18 0.900
Elvis Merzļikins 2 123 4 1.96 1 1 0 70 0.946

See also

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