Consistent excellence and being consistently underrated are an unusual combination in professional sports, but Wheeler's top-level talent frequently flies under the radar.
A 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward who possesses uncommon speed for a player his size, the native of Plymouth, Minnesota, uses his big body to win battles in the corners and create ample space in scoring areas. Add to that a powerful and accurate shot and it's easy to understand why the Phoenix Coyotes made Wheeler the No. 5 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.
Consistent excellence and being consistently underrated are an unusual combination in professional sports, but Wheeler's top-level talent frequently flies under the radar.
A 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward who possesses uncommon speed for a player his size, the native of Plymouth, Minnesota, uses his big body to win battles in the corners and create ample space in scoring areas. Add to that a powerful and accurate shot and it's easy to understand why the Phoenix Coyotes made Wheeler the No. 5 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.
But Wheeler never played for the Coyotes. He played three seasons at the University of Minnesota before electing to become a free agent and signed with the Boston Bruins on July 1, 2008. Wheeler made the team out of training camp and scored his first NHL goal in Boston's season-opening 5-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 9, 2008.
During the NHL's 2009 All-Star Weekend, Wheeler earned MVP honors in the YoungStars Game with four goals and five points.
He finished his first NHL season second in the League with a plus-36 rating and was in the top 10 among rookies in goals (21), assists (24) and points (45). After playing in eight of Boston's 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2009, Wheeler finished sixth in voting for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the League's top rookie.
Wheeler finished his second NHL season fifth on the Bruins in scoring with 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) and appeared in all 13 of Boston's games during the 2010 postseason. He had his first Stanley Cup Playoff points with a two-assist effort in Game 2 of Boston's first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres. Wheeler scored his first NHL playoff goal and had an assist as the Bruins opened a 3-0 series lead in their second-round matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.
But a four-player trade that sent him to the Atlanta Thrashers on Feb. 18, 2011, really gave Wheeler a chance to show what he could do. He scored five goals and 13 points in his first 16 games with Atlanta and finished with seven goals and 17 points in 23 games.
The Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season, and Wheeler led the renamed Jets in scoring with 64 points (17 goals, 47 assists), highlighted by a four-assist game against Colorado on Feb. 19, 2012. He had three two-goal games in a five-game span in March 2013, then led the Jets in goals (28) and points (69) in 2013-14.
The Jets named Wheeler an alternate captain before the 2014-15 season. He responded by scoring 26 goals and finishing with 61 points to lead Winnipeg in scoring again and help the franchise reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. In 2015-16, Wheeler tied for sixth in the NHL with 78 points.
Wheeler was named captain of the Jets on Aug. 31, 2016, his 30th birthday. He scored 26 goals for the third straight season and finished with 74 points. In 2017-18, he had a career year with 91 points (23 goals, 68 assists) to help the Jets finish with a franchise-record 114 points, then contributed 21 points (three goals, 18 assists) in 17 games to help Winnipeg advance to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. Wheeler had 91 points (20 goals, 71 assists) again in 2018-19, and he got his 700th NHL point when he scored a goal against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 10, 2019.
Wheeler was Jets captain for six seasons before the Jets announced Sept. 16 they would not have one to begin 2022-23. He entered that season as the longest-tenured player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history, having been with the franchise since its final season in Atlanta in 2010-11. Wheeler scored his 300th NHL goal with 5.2 seconds remaining in the third period of a 3-2 overtime win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 13.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- USHL All-Rookie Team (2005)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2018, 2019)
- NHL Second All-Star Team (2018)
- Signed as a free agent by Boston, July 1, 2008.
- Traded to Atlanta by Boston with Mark Stuart for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik, February 18, 2011.
- Transferred to Winnipeg after Atlanta franchise relocated, June 21, 2011.
- Signed as a free agent by Munchen (Germany), October 28, 2012.
