After scoring 71 goals and 138 points in 134 games in four seasons at Cornell, it took Moulson some time to get a chance to prove he was an NHL-caliber player, but once he did, he delivered the goods.
Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the ninth round (No. 263) in the 2003 NHL Draft, Moulson remained at Cornell and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 1, 2006.
After scoring 71 goals and 138 points in 134 games in four seasons at Cornell, it took Moulson some time to get a chance to prove he was an NHL-caliber player, but once he did, he delivered the goods.
Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the ninth round (No. 263) in the 2003 NHL Draft, Moulson remained at Cornell and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 1, 2006.
After scoring 25 goals in 2006-07 and 28 in 2007-08 for Manchester of the American Hockey League, Moulson earned a 22-game stint with the Kings during the 2007-08 season, scoring five goals and nine points. He made his NHL debut Nov. 2, 2007, in San Jose against the Sharks, and became the 16th player in Kings history to score a goal in his first NHL game.
Moulson scored once in seven games for the Kings in 2008-09 and signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders on July 6, 2009. The signing drew little fanfare, but Moulson led the Islanders with 30 goals, five game-winning goals and scored a natural hat trick Dec. 3, 2008, in a 4-1 win against the Atlanta Thrashers.
The next season, Moulson scored 31 goals and shared the team lead with nine power-play goals. He also had 12 multipoint games, and on Feb. 19, 2011, scored twice on his brother-in-law, Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
Moulson scored 36 goals in 2011-12 to rank 10th in the NHL. Eclipsing the 30-goal mark for the third-straight season, he was the first Islander to do so since Ziggy Palffy (1995-98). He led the Islanders in assists (29) and placed second in points (44) and third in goals (15) during the 2012-13 season. Moulson made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut against Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference First Round.
On Oct. 27, 2013, the Islanders traded Moulson to the Buffalo Sabres. Despite 29 points in 44 games, the Sabres traded Moulson to the Minnesota Wild on March 5, 2014.
Moulson wasn't gone from Buffalo for long. He signed a five-year, free agent contract with the Sabres on July 1, 2014. He scored a goal Feb. 20, 2014, against the New York Rangers, for his 300th NHL point and played his 500th NHL game Dec. 4, 2015, against the Arizona Coyotes.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- ECAC First All-Star Team (2005)
- NCAA East Second All-American Team (2005)
- ECAC Second All-Star Team (2006)
- Signed as a free agent by Los Angeles, September 1, 2006.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Islanders, July 6, 2009.
- Traded to Buffalo by NY Islanders with NY Islanders' 1st (later traded to Ottawa -- Ottawa selected Colin White) in 2015 NHL Draft and 2nd (Brendan Guhle) round picks in 2015 NHL Draft for Thomas Vanek, October 27, 2013.
- Traded to Minnesota by Buffalo with Cody McCormick for Torrey Mitchell, Winnipeg's 2nd round pick (previously acquired, later traded to Washington -- Washington selected Vitek Vanecek) in 2014 NHL Draft and Minnesota's 2nd round pick (later traded to Montreal, later traded to Chicago -- Chicago selected Chad Krys) in 2016 NHL Draft, March 5, 2014.
- Signed as a free agent by Buffalo, July 1, 2014.
