Sbisa took the long way around to becoming an original member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was born on the island of Sardinia, in the municipality of Ozieri, Italy, raised in Oberageri, Switzerland, and groomed for his professional hockey career in Lethbridge, Alberta. The defenseman, who is fluent in English, French, Italian and German, made the leap to North American junior hockey in order to make himself more NHL-ready and more available for viewing by scouts.
Sbisa took the long way around to becoming an original member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was born on the island of Sardinia, in the municipality of Ozieri, Italy, raised in Oberageri, Switzerland, and groomed for his professional hockey career in Lethbridge, Alberta. The defenseman, who is fluent in English, French, Italian and German, made the leap to North American junior hockey in order to make himself more NHL-ready and more available for viewing by scouts.
It worked. After putting up 33 points (six goals, 27 assists) in 62 games for Lethbridge in the Western Hockey League, the Philadelphia Flyers selected Sbisa with the No. 19 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. But despite being considered one of the organization's top prospects, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on June 26, 2009.
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound defenseman, played 68 games for Anaheim in 2010-11 and 80 in 2011-12. Impressed by his dependability and appetite for physical play, the Ducks signed Sbisa to a four-year contract extension on March 8, 2011. But after he missed 26 games during the 2013-14 season because of a torn tendon in right hand, Sbisa was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on June 27, 2014.
Sbisa played 76 games with the Canucks in 2014-15 and signed a three-year contract extension on April 8, 2015. He spent two more seasons with the Canucks before being selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Injuries limited him to 30 games during the regular season, but he returned in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and assisted on a goal by Ryan Reaves that gave the Golden Knights a series-clinching 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Traded to Anaheim by Philadelphia with Joffrey Lupul, Philadelphia's 1st round picks in 2009 (later traded to Columbus - Columbus selected John Moore) and 2010 (Emerson Etem) NHL Drafts and future considerations for Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle, June 26, 2009.
- Signed as a free agent by Lugano (Swiss), September 19, 2012.
- Traded to Vancouver by Anaheim with Nick Bonino and Anaheim's 1st (Jared McCann) and 3rd (later traded to NY Rangers -- NY Rangers selected Keegan Iverson) round picks in 2014 NHL Draft for Ryan Kesler and Vancouver's 3rd round pick (Deven Sideroff) in 2015 NHL Draft, June 27, 2014.
- Claimed by Vegas from Vancouver in Expansion Draft, June 21, 2017.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Islanders, September 24, 2018.
