Shoots Left NHL Draft Undrafted Name Ronalds Kenins Height 1.82 m Salary 600,000 USD (2015) Date joined July 30, 2013 | National team Latvia Playing career Role Ice hockey forward Weight 91 kg Positions Winger | |
Born February 28, 1991 (age 33)
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union ( 1991-02-28 ) NHL team
Former teams Vancouver Canucks
ZSC Lions Similar People Christopher Tanev, Henrik Sedin, Willie Desjardins, Jim Benning, Trevor Linden | ||
Ronalds Kenins first steps in NHL
Ronalds Ķēniņš (born February 28, 1991) is a Latvian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the ZSC Lions of the National League A (NLA). He previously played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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Kenins plays with a Swiss player-license and isn't considered an import player in the NLA.
Playing career
Ķēniņš played junior hockey in Latvia and Switzerland. At 17 years-of-age, he started his professional career with GCK Lions of the National League B (NLB), Switzerland's second-tier league, in 2008–09. After three seasons with the Lions organization, Kenins joined ZSC Lions of the top-tier National League A (NLA). Following the 2012–13 season, he was signed by the Vancouver Canucks on July 30, 2013. He remained in Switzerland for the 2013–14 season and recorded an NLA career-high eight goals and 25 points in 39 games.
Ķēniņš moved to North America for the 2014–15 season and was assigned to the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Utica Comets. After being called up midway through the season, Kenins made his NHL debut on January 30, 2015, against the Buffalo Sabres (a team that featured fellow Latvian Zemgus Girgensons and the former Latvian national team's head coach, Ted Nolan). The following game, Ķēniņš scored his first career NHL goal against Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild on February 1, 2015. On April 17, Ķēniņš scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal on a one-timer assisted by linemate and fellow rookie Bo Horvat.
On August 17, 2016, Kenins agreed as a free agent to a two-year contract with former team, the ZSC Lions of the NLA.
International play
At the junior level, Ķēniņš played for Latvia in two IIHF World U18 Championships (second tier Division I play) and two IIHF World U20 Championships (one year in Division I and another in the top tier). He made his debut with Latvia's men's team at the 2011 IIHF World Championship and has gone on to play in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In February 2014, he played for Latvia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
