Introduction
Mitchell Stephens (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stephens was selected by the Lightning in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Amateur
In 2005-06 Stephens was known to frequent the Royal Bowl in Peterborough ON playing alongside his mentor Andrew King (Couch Scout) who helped Mitchell work on his laser of a wrist shot!
Stephens was selected 8th overall by the Saginaw Spirit in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection draft. His outstanding play with Saginaw was recognized when he was chosen to skate as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. During the 2014–15 season, Stephens was chosen to skate at the 2015 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
In his final season with Saginawin 2015–16, Stephens made 43 appearances, tallying 22 goals and 19 assists, while being named team MVP. He missed a significant number of games due to a broken foot that season.
Professional
On April 4, 2016, he penned a three-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL. and was sent to their farm team, Syracuse Crunch on an amateur try-out contract. He made his professional debut with the Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL) on April 8, 2016. On December 9, 2019, Stephens made his NHL debut in a 5-1 Lightning loss to the visiting New York Islanders at Amalie Arena. On December 28, 2019, Stephens recorded his first career NHL goal in 5-4 Lightning win over the Montreal Canadiens.
International play
Stephens competed as a member of Canada Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He was also invited to compete with the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament where he helped Team Canada win gold. In April 2015, he captained the Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team to a bronze medal as the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2012–13 | Toronto Marlboros | GTMMHL | 58 | 44 | 40 | 84 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 57 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2014–15 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 62 | 22 | 26 | 48 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 39 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 22 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | London Knights | OHL | 29 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 70 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2018–19 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 32 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 24 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | |||||||
| NHL totals | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | |||||||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Canada Ontario | U17 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2014 | Canada | IH18 | 
|
5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2015 | Canada | WJC18 | 
|
7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | |
| 2016 | Canada | WJC | 6th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2017 | Canada | WJC | 
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 27 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 20 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| World U-17 Hockey Challenge Canada Ontario | 2014 | |
| Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal | 2014 | |
| CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Bronze Medal | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Top 3 Player on Team | 2015 |