Adam Helewka

Adam Helewka
Born (1995-07-21) July 21, 1995 (age 29)
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
ICEHL team
Former teams		 HC Oceláři Třinec
San Jose Barracuda
Tucson Roadrunners
Milwaukee Admirals
Barys Nur-Sultan
Linköping HC
HKM Zvolen
Cleveland Monsters
NHL draft 106th overall, 2015
San Jose Sharks
Playing career 2016–present

Adam Helewka (born July 21, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger. He is currently playing with HC Oceláři Třinec of the Czech Extraliga.

Early life

Helewka was born on July 21, 1995, in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada,[1] to parents Alison and Dave. His mother, a teacher, was born and raised in Wales while his father played rugby in Saskatchewan.[2]

Playing career

Growing up in Burnaby, Helewka played with the Burnaby Winter Club of the Burnaby Minor Hockey League[3] and Vancouver Northwest Giants, of the BC Hockey Major Midget League.[4] After originally being cut from his tier-one team during his second year of bantams, and failing to join the Giants, he enrolled at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and played Double-A midget hockey.[2] He played two seasons with Notre Dame before joining the Giants for one season in 2011–12.[1]

Following his single season with the Giants, Helewka joined the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL) for their 2012–13 season.[5] During his rookie season with the team, Helewka led Chief rookies with 10 goals and 17 assists in 60 games to win the teams Rookie of the Year award.[6]

Although he was eligible for the 2013 and 2014 NHL Entry Drafts, Helewka went undrafted and remained eligible for the 2015 draft. During the 2014–15 season, Helewka increased his production output and recorded 44 goals and 43 assists for 87 points in 69 games. As a result, he was drafted 106th overall by the San Jose Sharks that summer.[7] On December 16, 2015, Helewka was suspended for six games as a result of an after a post-horn fight with Parker Wotherspoon of the Tri City Americans. The six-game suspension was the longest in the WHL that season and carried a $1,000 fine for the team.[8] Following the suspension, Helewka was traded to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for Wyatt Johnson, Eli Zummack, a 2nd round selection in the 2016 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft and a 5th round pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.[9] He concluded his major junior ice hockey career on March 3, 2016, by signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Sharks.[10]

Professional

Upon completing his major junior career, Helewka joined the Sharks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, for the 2016–17 season. In his first full season with the team, Helewka scored 14 goals and 15 assists in 58 games.[1] On June 15, 2018, the Sharks traded Helewka to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Kyle Wood. At the time of the trade, he had recorded 23 goals and 44 assists for 67 points through 121 career games.[11] He immediately joined the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, for 2018–19 before being traded to the Nashville Predators mid-way through the season.[12] Despite the trade, Helewka continued setting new career highs in points with 38 and goals with 16 through 48 combined games with the Milwaukee Admirals and the Roadrunners. As a result, he was signed to a one-year contract to remain with the Predators organization on February 27, 2019.[13]

Helewka's stint with the Predators organization was short-lived, however, as he was acquired by the New Jersey Devils on June 22, 2019, in exchange for future considerations.[14] However, prior to the start of the 2019–20 season, Helewka left North America to join the Barys Nur-Sultan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[15] He played eight games with the Nur-Sultan[1] before joining the Linköping HC of the Swedish Hockey League.[16] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Helewka was loaned to the HKM Zvolen of the Tipos extraliga.[17]

On April 24, 2020, Helewka returned to North America and signed an AHL contract with the Cleveland Monsters, the Columbus Blue Jackets AHL affiliate.[18]

Following two seasons with the Cleveland Monsters, Helewka left the AHL and returned abroad in agreeing to a one-year contract with Austrian club, HC Innsbruck of the ICEHL, on June 22, 2022.[19]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Spokane Chiefs WHL 60 10 17 27 12 9 1 2 3 2
2013–14 Spokane Chiefs WHL 62 23 27 50 32 4 0 0 0 4
2014–15 Spokane Chiefs WHL 69 44 43 87 59 6 3 2 5 12
2015–16 San Jose Barracuda AHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2015–16 Spokane Chiefs WHL 19 16 13 29 23 — — — — —
2015–16 Red Deer Rebels WHL 34 26 19 45 34 17 9 9 18 18
2016–17 San Jose Barracuda AHL 58 14 15 29 28 12 3 0 3 6
2016–17 Allen Americans ECHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2017–18 San Jose Barracuda AHL 63 9 29 38 29 4 1 2 3 0
2018–19 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 41 13 18 31 20 — — — — —
2018–19 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 24 8 11 19 2 5 0 0 0 2
2019–20 Barys Nur-Sultan KHL 8 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
2019–20 Linköping HC SHL 38 6 10 16 16 — — — — —
2020–21 HKM Zvolen Slovak 17 3 6 9 10 — — — — —
2020–21 Cleveland Monsters AHL 25 3 9 12 4 — — — — —
2021–22 Cleveland Monsters AHL 37 6 11 17 12 — — — — —
AHL totals 251 53 94 147 95 21 4 2 6 8
KHL totals 8 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
SHL totals 38 6 10 16 16 — — — — —

Awards and honours

Award Year
WHL
West Second All-Star Team 2015

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Adam Helewka". Elite Prospects. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Derrick, Chris (September 18, 2013). "All eyes on Chiefs winger Adam Helewka". The Spokesman Review. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  3. ^ Olson, Dan (April 4, 2019). "Vela, Helewka putting up points in AHL". Times Colonist. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Berridge, Tom (November 1, 2011). "Burnaby-based midget Giants move to within two points of lead". New Westminster Record. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "CHIEFS MAKE ONE ROSTER MOVE". Spokane Chiefs. September 10, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  6. ^ "CHIEFS HONOR AWARD WINNERS". Spokane Chiefs. March 18, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Frazier, Ann (June 27, 2015). "Quick Facts: Adam Helewka". National Hockey League. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Eide, Andrew (December 16, 2015). "Spokane's Helewka suspended six games by WHL". Sportsnet. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  9. ^ "Rebels Acquire Helewka From Spokane". Red Deer Rebels. January 1, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  10. ^ "Sharks Sign Forward Adam Helewka". National Hockey League. March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  11. ^ "Sharks Acquire Defenseman Kyle Wood From Coyotes". National Hockey League. June 15, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  12. ^ "Predators Acquire Dauphin, Helewka from Arizona". National Hockey League. February 8, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Predators Sign Forward Adam Helewka". National Hockey League. February 27, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "Devils acquire Helewka from Nashville". American Hockey League. June 22, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  15. ^ "АДАМ ХЕЛЕВКА ПЕРЕШЁЛ В "БАРЫС"" (in Russian). July 4, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  16. ^ "Kanadensisk forward till LHC" (in Swedish). October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  17. ^ "Ofenzíve prichádza pomôcť Adam Helewka" (in Slovak). June 11, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "MONSTERS SIGN ADAM HELEWKA TO AHL CONTRACT". Cleveland Monsters. April 24, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  19. ^ "Sharks sign Adam Helewka" (in German). HC Innsbruck. June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.