| P.K. Subban | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 13, 1989 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 206 lb (93 kg; 14 st 10 lb) |
| Position | Defence |
| Shoots | Right |
| NHL team Former teams |
Nashville Predators Montreal Canadiens |
| National team |  Canada
|
| NHL Draft | 43rd overall, 2007 Montreal Canadiens |
| Playing career | 2009–present |
P.K. Subban (born Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban on May 13, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL).
P.K. was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
In 2013, he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy, and was the leading scorer amongst all defencemen. On July 3, 2013, he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.
Playing career
P.K. spent his junior career with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). In 2005–06 he recorded 12 points in a 52-game rookie campaign. In 2006–07, he improved to 56 points in 68 games. P.K. was drafted by the Canadiens in the off-season.
He recorded 46-points in just 58 games during the 2007–08 campaign, before adding 23 points and matching his regular season goals total of 8 in the post-season. He helped Belleville to the J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals against the Kitchener Rangers, where they lost the OHL title in seven games. Following a junior career high 76 points (in 56 games) in 2008–09, P.K. was signed to a three-year entry-level contract by the Canadiens.
P.K. was assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) to begin the 2009–10 season. He was elected to play in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game in Portland. Shortly thereafter, he earned his first call-up to the Canadiens on February 11, 2010. The following day he registered his first NHL point, an assist, in his debut against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 12.
On April 26, 2010, Subban was recalled from Hamilton during the Canadiens' first round playoff series against the Washington Capitals. He recorded his first NHL playoff point, an assist, in his first NHL playoff game, on April 26, 2010. His first goal came in game 1 of the Canadiens' second round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 30, 2010.
In game 3 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals, P.K. became the third rookie defenceman in Canadiens' history to register three assists in one game. In all, he recorded 1 goal and 8 points in 14 playoff games for the Canadiens.
After the Canadiens were eliminated by the Flyers, P.K. was returned to the Bulldogs, who were still alive in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He was awarded the AHL President's Award in recognition of his accomplishments in the 2009–10 season.
On March 20, 2011, P.K. became the first Canadiens rookie defenceman to score a hat trick in a game. This feat came in an 8–1 victory against the Minnesota Wild. Playing in 81 games in the 2011-12 NHL season, he recorded seven goals to go with 29 assists .
A restricted free agent after the 2011–12 season, P.K. sat out the first four games of 2013 while the two sides negotiated a contract.
On January 28, 2013, P.K. signed a two-year, $5.75 million deal with Montreal. He scored 11 goals and 27 assists, matching his career-high 38 points despite playing in only 42 games due to the lockout.
At the end of the season, he was awarded with the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's defenceman of the year, edging-out Kris Letang and Ryan Suter for the honour. On July 3, 2013, he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.
P.K. then played all 82 games during the 2013–14 regular season, in which he registered a total of 53 points, ten of which were goals.
During the 2014 playoffs, he was one of Montreal's most important assets, registering 14 points in 17 games as the Canadiens ultimately reached the Eastern Conference Finals, falling to the New York Rangers.
P.K. became a restricted free agent at the close of the 2013–14 season when his contract expired.
According to the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), he earned the right to salary arbitration, having signed his first Standard Player Contract between the ages of 18 and 20 and having accrued four years of professional experience or more.
P.K. subsequently filed for arbitration before the deadline of July 5, 2014. The hearing took place on August 1, 2014 with his camp asking for a one-year deal worth $8.5 million while the Canadiens offered a one-year deal worth $5.5 million.
Under NHL CBA rules, the parties could continue to negotiate and reach an agreement until the arbitrator announced her decision, given in the 48 hours following the hearing.
As arbitration was player-elected, once the arbitrator released her decision, the team would have had 48 hours to agree to the terms or walk away from the player, thereby making P.K. an unrestricted free agent.
The day after the hearing, on August 2, 2014, it was announced that P.K. and the Montreal Canadiens had agreed to terms on an eight-year, $72 million contract, running through the 2021–22 season.
The contract made him the highest-paid defenceman in the NHL and third-highest paid NHL player overall at the time.
On September 15, 2014, P.K. was named an alternate captain of the Canadiens along with Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov as Montreal Head Coach Michel Therrien elected not to award a captaincy following Brian Gionta's departure in off-season.
On June 29, 2016, P.K. was traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Shea Weber.
Career Statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Subban with the Montreal Canadiens in 2012
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2005–06 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 52 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 70 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 68 | 15 | 41 | 56 | 89 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 26 | ||
| 2007–08 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 58 | 8 | 38 | 46 | 100 | 21 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 28 | ||
| 2008–09 | Belleville Bulls | OHL | 56 | 14 | 62 | 76 | 94 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 22 | ||
| 2009–10 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 77 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 82 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 2009–10 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 124 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 81 | 7 | 29 | 36 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 42 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 57 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 31 | ||
| 2013–14 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 10 | 43 | 53 | 81 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 24 | ||
| 2014–15 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 15 | 45 | 60 | 74 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 31 | ||
| 2015–16 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 6 | 45 | 51 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 434 | 63 | 215 | 278 | 532 | 54 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 92 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Canada Ontario | WHC17 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2008 | Canada | WJC | Template:Goca | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Canada | WJC | Template:Goca | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 | |
| 2013 | Canada | WC | 5th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | Canada | Oly | Template:Goca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 18 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 8 | ||||
| Senior totals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
International Play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Canada
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| Winter Olympics | ||
| Gold | 2014 Sochi | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Gold | 2008 Czech Republic | |
| Gold | 2009 Canada | |
P.K. made his international debut for Canada at the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic.
He saw limited ice time as Canada's seventh defenceman, but was able to help the team capture their fourth consecutive gold medal at the tournament, defeating Sweden in overtime in the final.
He again represented Canada at the 2009 World Juniors in Ottawa, taking on a more central role with the team.
P.K. scored three goals and nine points and a differential of +12 in the tournament, helping Canada to its fifth consecutive gold medal as they once again defeated Sweden in the final. He was named to the Tournament All-Star Team, along with tournament MVP and close friend John Tavares.
P.K. was invited to participate in the 2012 IIHF World Championship, but was injured during pre-tournament play.
In the next season, he was a late addition to the Canadian team at the 2013 edition of the tournament; he joined them in the elimination round for one game, which Canada lost.
On January 7, 2014, P.K. was named to Canada's 2014 Winter Olympic team for participation in the Games in Sochi in defence of their 2010 gold medal. They successfully reprised the gold, prevailing 3–0 over Sweden in the tournament final.
Awards
| League | Award | Year |
|---|---|---|
| OHL | First All-Star Team | 2009 |
| AHL | All-Rookie Team | 2010 |
| AHL | President's Award | 2010 |
| NHL | All-Rookie Team | 2011 |
| NHL | James Norris Memorial Trophy | 2013 |
| NHL | NHL First All-Star Team | 2013 |
| NHL | NHL First All-Star Team | 2015 |
Personal Life
P.K.'s parents both immigrated to Ontario from the Caribbean in the 1970s. His father Karl moved from Jamaica to Sudbury and his mother, Maria came from Montserrat to Hamilton. Karl is a retired school principal.
He has four siblings: Nastassia, Natasha, Jordan and Malcolm; P.K., Malcolm and Jordan all played for the Belleville Bulls during their junior career.
Malcolm is a goaltender who was selected by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Jordan was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Growing up, he was good friends with the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, John Tavares.
Philantrophy
On September 16, 2015 (Before the 2015–16 season), P.K. announced his donation of $10 million to the Montreal Children's Hospital The hospital called it "the biggest philanthropic commitment by a sports figure in Canadian history."
After his donation, he continued his commitment as spokesman and organized the Winter Wonderland with Air Canada at the hospital before the holidays
In 2017, P.K. was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division) in recognition of how his "generous gift stands as an example of how professional athletes can positively change lives in their communities".
He was also added to the "Google.org Impact Challenge" judge panel in Canada to help choose which organizations should receive money to help Canada.