Luke Prokop (born May 6, 2002) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League as a

prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...

for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL), who selected him in the

2020 NHL Entry Draft The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was the 58th NHL Entry Draft, held from October 6–7, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pan ...

. In 2021, Prokop came out as gay, becoming the first player under contract with an NHL team to do so.

Playing career

Prokop is from Edmonton, Alberta. He became a fan of Shea Weber, a right-handed defenceman, when he watched Weber playing ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics for the Canadian men's national ice hockey team. Prokop became a fan of Weber's team, the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL), and began wearing jersey number 6 in his honour. Prokop attended the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

, British Columbia. The Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Prokop with their first round selection, the seventh overall, of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. He played for Canada's national under-18 ice hockey team in the

2018 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 20th IIHF World U18 Championship. The tournament was played from 19 to 29 April 2018 in Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, Russia. United States lost to Finland. Top Division Match officials 12 referees an ...

. The Predators selected Prokop in the third round, with the 73rd overall selection, of the

. In December 2020, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Predators, and spent the 2020–21 season with Calgary. Prokop was traded from the Hitmen to the Edmonton Oil Kings on October 13, 2021.

Personal life

Luke's older brother, Josh, is also an ice hockey player. The Calgary Hitmen signed Josh in September 2018. They both spent time playing with Calgary, before Luke was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings. On July 19, 2021, Prokop came out as gay, becoming the first player under contract with an NHL team to do so.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prokop, Luke 2002 births Living people Calgary Hitmen players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Edmonton Oil Kings players Gay sportsmen Ice hockey people from Alberta Canadian LGBT sportspeople LGBT ice hockey players Nashville Predators draft picks Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) players Seattle Thunderbirds players Sportspeople from Edmonton