Jesse Graham (born May 13, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Jesse Graham
Graham with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2015
Born (1994-05-13) May 13, 1994 (age 30)
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
KHL team
Former teams
HC Sochi
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
San Antonio Rampage
Utica Comets
HK Nitra
KalPa
Augsburger Panther
Barys Astana
NHL draft 155th overall, 2012
New York Islanders
Playing career 2014–present

Playing career

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Graham played major junior hockey with the Niagara IceDogs and Saginaw Spirit in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before he was selected in the sixth-round, 155th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.[1] and signed an entry-level contract with the team on May 31, 2014. He spent three seasons with the Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, as well as spells in the ECHL for the Florida Everblades and Missouri Mavericks, before signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Colorado Avalanche on July 26, 2017.[2]

Graham spent the 2017–18 season with the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliation of the Avalanche. On August 30, 2018, Graham signed for the Utica Comets of the AHL, serving as the primary affiliate to the Vancouver Canucks.[3]

After five professional seasons in North American, Graham opted to pursue a European career, moving to the Tipsport Liga in Slovakia to join HK Nitra on October 26, 2019.[4] but left just two weeks later after playing three games for the team to join Finnish club, KalPa of Liiga.[5]

Graham spent the duration of the 2021–22 season with Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), contributing with 3 goals and 39 assists for 42 points in 52 games, leading the blueline in scoring.[6]

As a free agent, Graham moved to the KHL, in agreeing to a one-year contract for the 2022–23 season with Kazakh based club, Barys Nur-Sultan, on July 20, 2022.[7] In his debut KHL season, Graham was a fixture on the Barys blueline, registering 19 assists through 66 regular season games.

On May 11, 2023, Graham opted to continue his tenure in the KHL, however moved to Russian club, HC Sochi, after securing a two-year contract as a free agent.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Toronto Nationals GTHL 84 14 74 88 38
2010–11 Niagara IceDogs OHL 63 1 17 18 22 14 1 8 9 8
2011–12 Niagara IceDogs OHL 68 4 37 41 36 20 1 9 10 20
2012–13 Niagara IceDogs OHL 68 4 35 39 48 5 0 3 3 6
2013–14 Niagara IceDogs OHL 24 6 11 17 21
2013–14 Saginaw Spirit OHL 42 5 32 37 22 5 0 3 3 2
2013–14 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 7 1 3 4 2
2014–15 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 39 3 16 19 20
2014–15 Florida Everblades ECHL 23 1 13 14 10 12 1 5 6 4
2015–16 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 52 5 12 17 34
2015–16 Missouri Mavericks ECHL 11 0 9 9 2 9 0 5 5 14
2016–17 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 19 2 7 9 6
2016–17 Missouri Mavericks ECHL 24 6 19 25 26
2017–18 San Antonio Rampage AHL 46 4 17 21 18
2018–19 Utica Comets AHL 52 4 14 18 32
2019–20 HK Nitra Slovak 3 1 1 2 2
2019–20 KalPa Liiga 40 4 16 20 22
2020–21 KalPa Liiga 55 3 23 26 16 4 0 2 2 0
2021–22 Augsburger Panther DEL 52 3 39 42 40
2022–23 Barys Astana KHL 66 0 19 19 28
2023–24 HC Sochi KHL 62 9 23 32 20
AHL totals 215 19 69 88 112
Liiga totals 95 7 39 46 38 4 0 2 2 0
KHL totals 128 9 42 51 48

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Canada Ontario U17   5 1 5 6 2
Junior totals 5 1 5 6 2

Awards and honours

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Award Year
OHL
First All-Rookie Team 2011

References

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  1. ^ "New York Islanders draft history". hockeydb.com. May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "Avalanche signs Grimaldi, Graham". Colorado Avalanche. July 26, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Comets sign Brendan Woods and Jesse Graham". Utica Comets. August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  4. ^ "Novou tvárou Nitry obranca Jesse Graham" (in Slovak). HK Nitra. October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  5. ^ "Tervetuloa KalPaan, Jesse Graham!" (in Finnish). November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "Panthers secure the services of Jesse Graham". Augsburger Panther. July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  7. ^ "Jesse Graham - newcomer to Barys" (in Russian). Barys Nur-Sultan. July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  8. ^ "Jesse Graham joins the blueline" (in Russian). HC Sochi. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
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