Matthew Irwin (born November 29, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference ...

for 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 ...

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). Irwin has previously played in the NHL for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, alon ...

Playing career

Amateur

He was named best

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

in the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

Coastal Conference two years in a row, 2007 and 2008, while playing for the

Nanaimo Clippers The Nanaimo Clippers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Frank Crane Arena. Franchise ...

. He continued his career playing at the college level for the

UMass Minutemen The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the ''Minutemen'' nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as ...

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 fo ...

Professional

San Jose Sharks

As an undrafted free agent, Irwin agreed to a contract with the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Sharks played t ...

of the AHL. Irwin scored 73 points in his first two seasons, and was signed by parent affiliate, the

after injuries to

Jason Demers Jason Demers (born June 9, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for the Bakersfield Condors in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey Leag ...

and Brent Burns. Irwin scored his first NHL goal on January 26, 2013 against

Semyon Varlamov Semyon Aleksandrovich Varlamov (russian: Семён Александрович Варламов, ; born 27 April 1988) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NH ...

of the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (N ...

. In 38 games with the Sharks in 2013, Irwin scored six goals and six assists, while averaging 2.1 shots on goal per game, the most by a rookie defenceman. On April 3, 2013, Irwin signed a two-year, $2 million contract extension with the Sharks. Matt Irwin - Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

On July 10, 2015, Irwin signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the

. Irwin made the opening-night roster with Boston for the 2015–16 season. On October 11, 2015, Irwin was waived by Boston after a -5 plus/minus in his first two games. He was reassigned to Boston's AHL affiliate, the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R ...

, the following day.

Nashville Predators

On July 1, 2016, having concluded his contract with the Bruins, Irwin left as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way contract worth $575,000 with the Nashville Predators. After a few months with the team, Irwin was signed to a one-year, $650,000 contract extension. Irwin spent majority of the season with the Predators, recording 14 points in 74 games. Irwin also appeared in 22 games for the team during the 2017 playoffs, where the Predators fell in six games to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

during the

2017 Stanley Cup Finals The 2017 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2016–17 season, and the culmination of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburg ...

. On January 9, 2018, the Predators re-signed Irwin to a two-year, $1.35 million contract extension.

Anaheim Ducks

On February 24, 2020, after making 27 appearances with the Predators, Irwin was dealt to the Ducks in exchange for

Korbinian Holzer Korbinian Holzer (born 16 February 1988) is a German professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He previously played for the Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maple ...

, along with a 2022 sixth-round pick. Irwin featured in 9 games on the Ducks blueline, registering 1 assist, before the season was paused and effectively ended for the Ducks due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Buffalo Sabres

As a free agent from the Ducks, Irwin agreed to a one-year, $700,000 contract to join his fifth NHL club in the

on October 9, 2020. In the pandemic delayed season, Irwin made 24 regular season appearances on the blueline for the cellar-dwelling Sabres, registering just 2 assists.

Washington Capitals

Irwin continued his journeyman career in the following off-season, leaving the Sabres to sign as a free agent on a one-year, two-way contract with the Washington Capitals on July 28, 2021.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Matt 1987 births Anaheim Ducks players Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from British Columbia Living people Milwaukee Admirals players Nanaimo Clippers players Nashville Predators players People from the Capital Regional District Providence Bruins players San Jose Sharks players Sportspeople from Victoria, British Columbia Undrafted National Hockey League players UMass Minutemen ice hockey players Washington Capitals players Worcester Sharks players