For a self-described late bloomer, Bozak has fashioned a solid NHL career.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound center, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, took the Tier 2 junior route to pro hockey. He played three seasons for Victoria of the British Columbia Hockey League and led the BCHL in scoring in his final season, finishing with 128 points (45 goals) in 59 games.
For a self-described late bloomer, Bozak has fashioned a solid NHL career.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound center, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, took the Tier 2 junior route to pro hockey. He played three seasons for Victoria of the British Columbia Hockey League and led the BCHL in scoring in his final season, finishing with 128 points (45 goals) in 59 games.
Despite those numbers, Bozak was undrafted out of juniors. But after two seasons of college hockey at the University of Denver, a number of NHL teams pursued him before he signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent on April 9, 2009. Except for 32 games with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League during the 2009-10 season, Bozak has been a Maple Leaf ever since.
During his first seven NHL seasons, Bozak established himself as a reliable, strong-skating, two-way player, an excellent faceoff man and a player who can play on the power play and kill penalties. He was also one of the NHL's most successful players in the shootout, with 14 goals in 35 attempts.
During his first few seasons in Toronto, Bozak saw top-six minutes playing with the likes of Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk, though with the arrival of talented young players such as Auston Matthews and William Nylander, he figured to drop down a line or two as he entered his 30s.
Bozak's personal career highlight came on March 28, 2015, when he scored three goals in the third period for his first NHL hat trick, then assisted on Eric Brewer's overtime goal that gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory against their provincial rival, the Ottawa Senators. He had another third-period hat trick in a 7-4 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 21, 2015, becoming the third player in franchise history to have two or more hat tricks in the third period. That was the highlight of his 2015-16 season; his offensive numbers dropped because he missed 25 games, including 21 because of a concussion.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- WCHA All-Rookie Team (2008)
- Signed as a free agent by Toronto, April 3, 2009.
