Rodrigo Ābols (born 5 January 1996) is a Latvian 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for 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 ...

of the

National Hockey League 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 ...

(NHL). Ābols was selected in the seventh round, 184th overall, by the

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 ...

in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

Playing career

During the 2014–15 season, Ābols skated for both

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL) and

HK Rīga HK Riga is an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 2009 to serve as the farm club of former Kontinental Hockey League club Dinamo Riga. The club played the 2009–10 season in both the Latvian Hockey Higher League (which they ...

of the

Minor Hockey League The Junior Hockey League (JHL) (), sometimes translated as the ''Minor'' or ''Youth'' Hockey League, is a major junior ice hockey league in Eurasia, founded in 2009. It currently consists of 33 teams from 3 countries. Currently, all teams but o ...

(MHL). He made his KHL debut on 27 December 2014 with Riga, whom his father, Artis Ābols, coached. Ābols joined the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team relocated to Portland in 1976 and was known as the Winter Hawks until 2009. The team plays in the U.S. Divisio ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL) for the 2015–16 season. In 62 games, Ābols registered 20 goals and 49 points. During the 2016 NHL entry draft, Ābols was selected in the seventh round, 184th overall, by the

. Ābols split the 2016–17 season between the Winterhawks and the

Acadie–Bathurst Titan The Acadie–Bathurst Titan were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Bathurst, New Brunswick. They were members of the Maritimes Division, and played their home games at the K. C. Ir ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

. Ābols skated for

Örebro HK Örebro Hockeyklubb, commonly referred to as Örebro HK or Örebro Hockey, (formerly ''HC Örebro 90'') is a Swedish professional ice hockey club located in Örebro. The team is currently playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitse ...

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) during the 2017–18 season. While on loan, he also played for

BIK Karlskoga BIK Karlskoga is a Swedish ice hockey club based in Karlskoga, Sweden. They are currently playing in the second highest league in Sweden, the HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice ...

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

. With his rights expired from the Canucks, he continued his tenure with Örebro HK in the 2018–19 season, increasing his production with 18 goals and 26 points in 45 games. On 28 May 2019, the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

signed Ābols to a two-year, entry-level contract. Approaching his second season under contract with the Panthers, on 3 August 2020, Ābols returned to Sweden to begin the 2020–21 season on loan with his former club, Örebro HK. He returned to the SHL with the North American season delayed until mid-November due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 13 January 2021, Ābols was released by the

. Following four seasons in the

(SHL), Ābols returned to North America after securing a one-year, two-way contract with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2024–25 season on 16 June 2024. On 21 January 2025, Ābols made his NHL debut in Philadelphia's 2–1 overtime win against 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

International play

Ābols participated at the

2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship (commonly known as the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 37th edition of the IIHF World U20 Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC). It was hosted in Ufa, Russia. It began o ...

as a member of the Latvian national junior team. He made his senior international debut in Prague at the

2015 IIHF World Championships The 2015 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 79th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams participated at several levels of competition, which also served as qualification for division placements in the 2016 M ...

. He represented Latvia at the

2023 IIHF World Championship The 2023 IIHF World Championship was co-hosted by Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. The tournament was held from 12 to 28 May 2023, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Canada men's national ice hockey team, Canada won ...

where he recorded five goals and two assists and won a bronze medal, Latvia's first ever IIHF World Championship medal.

Personal life

Ābols is the son of Artis Ābols, who also played ice hockey and has been the head coach of

and Lada Togliatti of the

, and

Zemgale Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic trib ...

of the

Latvian Hockey Higher League The Latvian Hockey Higher League (), also known as the Optibet Hockey League () since 2017 due to sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier league of ice hockey in Latvia. The league is competed by nine teams from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pr ...

, as well as assistant coach of the

Latvia men's national ice hockey team The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2023. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World C ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abols, Rodrigo 1996 births Living people Acadie–Bathurst Titan players BIK Karlskoga players Dinamo Riga players Greenville Swamp Rabbits players HK Riga players Ice hockey people from Riga Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Latvian ice hockey forwards Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Olympic ice hockey players for Latvia Örebro HK players Philadelphia Flyers players Portland Winterhawks players Rögle BK players Springfield Thunderbirds players Vancouver Canucks draft picks