Mark Isaac Friedman (born December 25, 1995) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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

for

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

of the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL). He was selected 86th overall in the 3rd round of the 2014 NHL entry draft by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

, and has also played for the

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

and

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. Prior to turning professional, Friedman played for the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

for three seasons where he was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and First Team All-WCHA.

Early life

Friedman was born on December 25, 1995, in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, to parents Jeff and Joanne Friedman.

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

ran in Friedman's family: when his father and uncle played

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

, they had been coached by Friedman's grandfather. Friedman began ice skating around the age of three and began playing hockey soon afterwards. He frequently ran into trouble at school, and he was known among his peers for his competitive nature in athletic competitions. Friedman referred to himself as "a pretty feisty guy growing up", in part because he was physically smaller than many of his teammates and "had to stand out somehow". Friedman spent his adolescence in the

Greater Toronto Hockey League The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), formerly known as the Metro Toronto Hockey League, is a minor level ice hockey organization based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. The league was founded in 1911 as the Beaches Hockey League by ...

(GTHL) with the Don Mills Flyers, the same team for whom his father and uncle had played. During the 2009–10 season, Friedman and the Flyers captured the Kraft Cup for the GTHL's regular-season champions. That season, he scored 20 goals and 64

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

in 85 games while recording 125

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

. While still playing for Don Mills, Friedman joined the

North York Rangers The North York Rangers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team located in the North York district of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the South Division of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and were previously a part of the M ...

of the

Ontario Junior Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league dates back to 1954 where i ...

(OJHL) for two games during their 2010-11 season. The following season, he joined the Rangers in full, where he led the team's

defencemen 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 scoring with nine goals and 27 points in 48 regular-season games. He added an additional goal and three assists in four postseason OJHL games.

Playing career

Junior

Friedman played for the Waterloo Blackhawks of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) in 2012–14. In 2014, he was named USHL Second All-Star Team. He was selected in the 3rd round the 2014 NHL entry draft by the

, the 86th overall pick of the draft.

NCAA

Prior to turning professional, Friedman played for the

for three seasons on a full hockey scholarship. At the conclusion of his freshman year, Friedman was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and the Falcons' co-Rookie of the Year. Following his successful freshman campaign, Friedman was invited to the Flyers prospect and development camp before the 2015–16 season. In his sophomore season, Friedman was named to the First Team All-WCHA.

Professional

Philadelphia Flyers

Friedman signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers on March 21, 2017. He was reassigned to their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate, the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey Le ...

. He made his

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

debut on April 6, 2019, vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. On this date Friedman became the second

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

player in Flyers history. In July 2020, Friedman and the Flyers agreed to a two-year, one-way contract extension, with an average annual value of $725,000. Remaining on the Flyers roster for the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

delayed 2020–21 season, Friedman made 4 appearances from the blueline before he was placed on waivers on February 23, 2021. On the following day, Friedman was claimed by Flyers' division rival, the

, under the influence of the newly hired and former Flyers

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Ron Hextall Ronald Jeffrey Hextall (born May 3, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and executive. He was most recently the general manager#Sports teams, general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL ...

Pittsburgh Penguins

On February 24, 2021, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall announced that they had claimed Friedman off of waivers. He scored his first NHL goal against his former team in an eventual 4–3 loss and left the game early after a hit from Nolan Patrick. Since joining the Penguins, Friedman has been vocal in his preference of Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, calling Philadelphia noisy and dirty.

Vancouver Canucks

On October 17, 2023, Friedman was traded alongside Ty Glover to the

, in exchange for Karel Plášek and Jack Rathbone.

Nashville Predators

After spending most of the 2024–25 season with the Canucks' AHL affiliate, the

Abbotsford Canucks The Abbotsford Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The team began play in the 2021–22 season with home games at Abbotsford Centre as the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hocke ...

, Friedman was traded to the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

on February 7, 2025, in exchange for future considerations. While with the Predators, Friedman played out the remainder of his contract assigned to the AHL with the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

Rögle BK

As a pending free agent, Friedman left the Predators and opted to embark on a career abroad by signing a two-year contract with Swedish club, Rögle BK of the SHL, on June 5, 2025.

Personal life

Friedman is Jewish. His paternal grandfather, Mark Friedman (for whom he was named), played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Mark 1995 births Living people 21st-century Canadian Jews 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Abbotsford Canucks players Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Toronto Jewish Canadian sportspeople Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Milwaukee Admirals players Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Vancouver Canucks players Waterloo Black Hawks players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players