Introduction
Jason Demers (born June 9, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round, 186th overall, at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Amateur
Demers played major junior ice hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), splitting his time between the Moncton Wildcats and the Victoriaville Tigres. In the 2007–08 season for the Tigres, Demers led the QMJHL in defenceman scoring with 64 points in 67 games. He went undrafted by the NHL until he completed his major junior career in 2008, whereupon he was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 186th overall.
Professional
Demers began his professional career with San Jose's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, scoring 33 points in 78 games in the 2008–09 season. He also played in 12 Calder Cup playoff games for Worcester in the team's post-season run.
Demers made his NHL debut on October 1, 2009, against the Colorado Avalanche after surviving the final cut in the San Jose Sharks' training camp for the 2009–10 season. He scored his first career NHL point in the second game of the season on October 3 against the Anaheim Ducks, earning the primary assist on Benn Ferriero goal, the first of his career. Demers himself scored his first career NHL goal on November 15 against Cristobal Huet of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Demers' first multi-goal game came later in the season, on January 30, 2010, where he scored two power play goals against Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild. Demers scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on May 16 in the Western Conference Finals, a series the Sharks lost in a four-game sweep.
On March 28, 2013, in a 2–0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings, Demers suffered a head injury after suffering a hit from Cory Emmerton; he was replaced on defence by forward Brent Burns for the Sharks' next game, which was against the Phoenix Coyotes on March 30.
On November 21, 2014, just over one month into the 2014–15 season, Demers was traded to the Dallas Stars, along with a third-round pick, in exchange for defenceman Brenden Dillon.
On July 2, 2016, Demers left the Stars organization as a free agent and signed a five-year deal worth $22.5 million with the Florida Panthers.
International play
Demers first played for Team Canada during the NHL Lockout at the 2013 Spengler Cup. Demers was added to Team Canada for his first IIHF sanctioned tournament at the 2017 World Championships in Germany/France. In 10 games, Demers went scoreless as Canada suffered a 2-1 shootout defeat in the final against Sweden on May 21, 2017, to finish with the Silver Medal.
Personal life
Demers was born in Dorval, Quebec, the son of Guylaine and Darrell Demers. In the 2010s, he discovered that he has Jewish ancestry on his father's side; upon his realization, Demers stated, "[Being Jewish] is on my father’s side of the family tree. It all came as a little bit of a surprise, but we welcomed it.... Obviously having that new-found heritage makes me curious."
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2004–05 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 33 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 69 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 98 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 67 | 9 | 55 | 64 | 91 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 2008–09 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 78 | 2 | 31 | 33 | 54 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 2009–10 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 51 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 25 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 75 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 28 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2011–12 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 57 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Kärpät | SM-l | 30 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2013–14 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 75 | 5 | 29 | 34 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 2014–15 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 61 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 62 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 72 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2016–17 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 81 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 504 | 37 | 134 | 171 | 307 | 52 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 40 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Canada | WC | 02 ! |
10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Senior totals | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||