Pateryn is an old-school, barricade-the-door defenseman who will never be accused of being flashy.

Still, he draws notice with his physical play, as he did during the 2015-16 season, when he had 100 hits in 38 games for the Montreal Canadiens.

Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round (No. 128) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Pateryn was with the organization less than two weeks. On July 3, 2008, Toronto traded Pateryn to the Canadiens in a deal that sent forward Mikhail Grabovski to the Maple Leafs.

That fall, the product of Detroit suburb Sterling Heights headed to the University of Michigan. As a junior he had a plus-15 rating as Michigan reached the Frozen Four, where it lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game. Pateryn was plus-16 as a senior and served as alternate captain.

After graduating, Pateryn signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Canadiens. His first pro season, 2012-13, was marred by an elbow injury, but he played 39 games with Hamilton of the American Hockey League and three games with the Canadiens, making his NHL debut on March 9, 2013, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.