Joseph Veleno (born January 13, 2000) is a

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professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

forward for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). He was drafted 30th overall by the Red Wings in the

2018 NHL Entry Draft The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the 56th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 22–23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the second of two professional sports drafts to be held in the Dalla ...

Playing career

On June 4, 2015, Veleno became the first player from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

to be granted "exceptional status" allowing him to play as a 15-year old in major junior hockey which led to him being selected 1st overall in the 2015 QMJHL draft by the Saint John Sea Dogs on June 7, 2015. He is the fifth player to be granted exceptional status, with the preceding four being John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, and Sean Day. On December 8, 2017, it was announced that Veleno had been traded to the

Drummondville Voltigeurs The Drummondville Voltigeurs are a junior ice hockey team of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The franchise was originally granted for the 1982–83 season, and is based in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, playing its home games a ...

in exchange for three first-round selections (in 2018, 2019 and 2020) and two second-round selections in the QMJHL draft. and ended the season with 79 points in 64 games. Veleno was selected in the first round 30th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2018 NHL entry draft. During the 2018–19 QMJHL season, in just 59 games with Drummondville, he produced 42 goals and 62 assists for a 104 total points, helping the Voltigeurs reach the semi finals of the QMJHL playoffs, when he produced a further 8 goals and 9 assists in 16 games. On May 1, 2019, Veleno signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Red Wings. He did not make the Red Wings roster out of training camp, and began the 2019–20 season with the Wings AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. With the 2020–21 NHL season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the possibility of an AHL season in doubt, Veleno was loaned to Swedish club, the Malmö Redhawks for the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. Due to

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, an ...

rules, he was ineligible to return to North America until the Redhawks season concluded. In 46 appearances with the Redhawks, Veleno contributed with 11 goals and 20 points, before ending his loan in Sweden to be reassigned by the Red Wings to the Grand Rapids Griffins on April 10, 2021. Veleno made his NHL debut for the Red Wings against the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

on April 27, 2021.

Personal life

Veleno is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He was born in Kirkland, Quebec and still lives there in the offseason. His favourite team as a child was the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

and his favourite player was Alexander Ovechkin. In addition to hockey, Veleno also played soccer and lacrosse as a child. He is fluent in English, French, and Italian.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Veleno, Joe 2000 births Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Italian descent Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Drummondville Voltigeurs players Grand Rapids Griffins players Ice hockey people from Quebec Living people Malmö Redhawks players National Hockey League first-round draft picks People from Kirkland, Quebec Saint John Sea Dogs players Sportspeople from Montreal