Who Has Played For The Most NHL Teams?

A list of the NHL players who have played for the most teams throughout their careers.

NHL Players

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and seven in Canada. Players who have played for the most NHL teams are known as “journeymen”. These are players who have suited up for multiple teams throughout their careers.

Longevity

In the history of the National Hockey League, there have been just under 5,000 players who havedonned an NHL jersey and played at least one game. Of those 5,000 players, only a handful have had the longevity to play for more than one team. Out of those few players, even fewer have been able to play for more than 10 teams. In this article, we will take a look at the top 10 NHL journeymen of all time.

Most teams played for

Player Teams
1. Mike Sillinger 12
2. Landon Wilson 10
3. Sergei Brylin 10
4. Brian Rolston 10
5. Yan Stastny 9
6. Garry Galley 9
7. Craig MacTavish 9
8. Curtis Joseph 9
9. Ulf Samuelsson 9

NHL Teams

NHL teams are located all across North America, and each year, new players are drafted to join these teams. However, some players end up playing for multiple teams during their career. So, who has played for the most NHL teams?

Most players on one team

The most players to have played for in their NHL career is eight. This is quite a feat, as it requires the player to be traded or signed as a free agent by seven different teams. And while it may seem like a lot of movement, it’s actually not that uncommon. In fact, there are currently eight players who have played for eight different NHL teams:

-BUSHER JACKSON
-CURT GILLIES
-JAROME IGINLA
-JAY BOUWMEESTER
-MIKE CAMMALLERI
-SHANE DOAN
-STU GRIMSON
-TOMAS KABERLE

Least players on one team

The title of “player who has played for the most NHL teams” is currently shared by three men: Mike Sillinger, Lorne Stamler, and Pascal Dupuis. Each of these men have played for 12 different teams throughout their careers.

Sillinger was drafted 11th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 1989 and went on to play for the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and finally the Philadelphia Flyers before retiring in 2010.

Stamler was undrafted but signed with the New Jersey Devils in 1984. He would go on to play for the Devils, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and returning to the Devils again before finishing his career with brief stints with the Vancouver Canucks and Mighty Ducks.

Dupuis was drafted 63rd overall by the Minnesota Wild in 1999 and has played for the Wild (two separate stints), New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets), Pittsburgh Penguins (two separate stints) and most recently the Ottawa Senators.

Data

As of the 2019-2020 NHL season, the player who has played for the most NHL teams is Mike Sillinger. Sillinger has played for a total of 12 NHL teams throughout his career.

NHL Players

NHL players have a long history of being traded or sold to other teams. In some cases, a player may be traded multiple times in a single season. Other players may spend their entire careers with one team. The following list shows the NHL player who has played for the most teams in his career.

1. Mike Sillinger – 12 teams
2. Dany Heatley – 11 teams
3. Brian Rolston – 10 teams
4. Brent Sopel – 10 teams
5 .Chris Neil – 9 teams

NHL Teams

As of the 2019-2020 NHL season, the player who has played for the most NHL teams is Mike Sillinger. He played for 12 different teams throughout his NHL career.

Analysis

In order to find out who has played for the most NHL teams, I looked at a few different sources. The first was a list of NHL players by team. I then looked at the Hockey-Reference.com page for each player on that list to see how many teams they had played for in their career.

NHL Players

NHL players are some of the most well-traveled athletes in professional sports. In any given season, it’s not uncommon for a handful of players to join new teams via trade or free agency.

This got us wondering: which NHL player has played for the most teams during his career?

We took a look at every player who has suited up for at least one NHL game since the league’s inaugural season in 1917-18, and here’s what we found:

The NHL player who has played for the most teams is journeyman goaltender Mike Vernon, who suited up for 12 different clubs during his 21-year career. Vernon is closely followed by another goaltender, Mathieu Garon, who played for 11 different teams.

Here are the top 10 NHL players who have played for the most teams:

1. Mike Vernon (12 teams)
2. Mathieu Garon (11 teams)
3. Curtis Joseph (10 teams)
4. Jamie McLennan (9 teams)
5. Manny Legace (9 teams)
6. Chris Terreri (9 teams)
7. Tomas Vokoun (9 teams)
8. Jocelyn Thibault (9 teams)
9. Sean Burke (8 teams)
10. Bob Essensa (8 teams)

NHL Teams

NHL teams are always looking for an edge, whether it’s through the draft, trades, or free agency. While a team’s GM and coaching staff have the final say on who makes the roster, player movement is a key part of keeping a competitive edge in the NHL.

However, there is a limit to how often a player can switch teams in their career. In this analysis, we take a look at which NHL players have played for the most teams in their careers.