A smart, smooth-skating player, Hunwick has fashioned a solid NHL career since entering the League with the Boston Bruins, who selected him in the sixth round (No. 224) of the 2004 NHL Draft.
The left-shot, puck-moving defenseman arrived in Boston in 2007 with a strong resume that included two years with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program and a four-year NCAA career at the University of Michigan. Hunwick had 24 goals and 97 points in 163 college games and captained the Wolverines as a senior. He also won a gold medal with the United States at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
A smart, smooth-skating player, Hunwick has fashioned a solid NHL career since entering the League with the Boston Bruins, who selected him in the sixth round (No. 224) of the 2004 NHL Draft.
The left-shot, puck-moving defenseman arrived in Boston in 2007 with a strong resume that included two years with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program and a four-year NCAA career at the University of Michigan. Hunwick had 24 goals and 97 points in 163 college games and captained the Wolverines as a senior. He also won a gold medal with the United States at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
Hunwick made his NHL debut Nov. 10, 2007, against the Buffalo Sabres, and got his first NHL point with an assist Dec. 8, 2007, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played 13 games with the Bruins that season and appeared in 55 for Providence of the American Hockey League, where he had two goals and 23 points.
After beginning 2008-09 with Providence, Hunwick stuck with Boston after making his first NHL appearance of the season Oct. 15. He scored his first NHL goal Nov. 17, 2008, against Toronto and finished with six goals and 27 points in 53 games.
Hunwick made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut April 16, 2009, against the Montreal Canadiens but would not play again during that postseason due to a ruptured spleen that required surgery. On Nov. 29, 2010, Boston traded him to the Colorado Avalanche for Colby Cohen. He spent the next three-plus seasons with Colorado before signing a free agent contract with the New York Rangers on July 1, 2014.
The versatile defenseman was on the move again a year later, signing a free agent contract with the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2015.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- CCHA All-Rookie Team (2004)
- CCHA Second All-Star Team (2005, 2006)
- CCHA First All-Star Team (2007)
- NCAA West Second All-American Team (2007)
- Traded to Colorado by Boston for Colby Cohen, November 29, 2010.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, July 1, 2014.
- Signed as a free agent by Toronto, July 1, 2015.
- Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh, July 1, 2017.
- Traded to Buffalo by Pittsburgh with Conor Sheary for a conditional pick in 2019 NHL Draft, June 27, 2018.
