Tim Kennedy (ice hockey)

Playing career

Kennedy played several years of his youth career with the Buffalo Regals, where he led the team with future Michigan State University teammate Chris Mueller. He also attended Bishop Timon - St. Jude High School He played for several years on the Western Division’s hockey team in the Empire State Games where his teams won gold in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, Kennedy was offered a contract with the OHL, but Kennedy declined because he would have been unable to play NCAA college hockey. He was later drafted by the Sioux City Musketeers, a team in the United States Hockey League. Kennedy was actively recruited by major college hockey programs including Colorado College, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Boston College. Ultimately he accepted a scholarship to Michigan State, where he was a member of 2007 NCAA Championship team. He contributed one goal in the championship game against Boston College and assisted Justin Abdelkader's game-winning goal.

Tim Kennedy was a 2005 sixth-round draft pick (181 overall) of the Washington Capitals but was traded to the Buffalo Sabres the day he was drafted in exchange for Buffalo's sixth-round draft pick in 2006 (Mathieu Perreault).

On June 1, 2008, Kennedy signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Sabres. He spent the beginning of the 2008–09 season playing for the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. On December 27, 2008, the Sabres called him up from Portland and gave him the rare honor of being able to play his first NHL game in his hometown in Buffalo. That game was a shoot-out win over the New York Islanders for the Sabres.

On September 30, 2009, the Sabres announced that Kennedy would start the 2009–10 season in Buffalo. Kennedy scored 10 goals and 16 assists, for a total of 26 points in 78 games in the regular season. He scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 6 playoff games.

Tim Kennedy was named to the 2010 Team USA roster for the World Championships in Germany. Team USA went on to finish 13th out of 16 teams, with Kennedy scoring one goal and no assists in six games.

At the end of the 2009-10 season, Kennedy’s entry-level contract expired resulting in a contract dispute with the Sabres. Kennedy went to arbitration to settle the contract dispute for the 2010–11 season. This resulted in an arbitration ruling of $1,000,000. In the dispute, Kennedy wanted a higher valued contract that was one-way to remain at the NHL level over the lesser two-way contract the Sabres were offering him that would have him split time between the Sabres and their AHL affiliate in Portland. The Sabres didn’t want to pay the additional amount. So on August 2, 2010, the Sabres waived Kennedy.

The next day on August 3, 2010, Kennedy cleared waivers (NHL). "Clearing waivers" in the NHL means that every team in the NHL has the opportunity to "claim" a player that has been "waived" by a team, to take on that player and their contract, but that no team chooses to. That afternoon, Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced in a press conference that the Buffalo Sabres had bought out Kennedy's contract for $333,333. The reported monetary difference between Kennedy's arbitration ruling and the Sabres' contract offer was $200,000.

On August 30, 2010, Kennedy signed a one-year contract with the New York Rangers for a reported $550,000. At the start of the season and no place within the Rangers roster, Kennedy was waived again, this time by the Rangers, on October 5, 2010. After clearing waivers again, he was then sent to the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, on October 13. On February 26, 2011, Kennedy was traded by the Rangers along with a third round pick to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Bryan McCabe.

On January 26, 2012, he was traded from the Florida Panthers to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Sean Sullivan.

The following year, on July 11, 2013, Kennedy signed as a free agent to a one-year, two-way deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. In the 2013–14 season, Kennedy appeared in 37 games for the Coyotes, his most in the NHL since 2010. As a depth forward, he contributed from the lower lines with 2 goals and 8 points.

On July 3, 2014, Kennedy continued his journeyman career in signing as a free agent on a familiar one-year, two-way deal with the Washington Capitals. He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears for the duration of the 2014–15 season, featuring in the AHL All-Star game and posting 59 points in 75 games.

On June 3, 2015, Kennedy signed a one-year contract with Russian club, HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL for the 2015–16 season. Kennedy described the experience in Nizhnekamsk as a poor fit for him; he was unable to adapt to the Soviet Union-era coaching regimen and the city's strict military environment (which prevented him from bringing his family to Russia), and partway through the season, the club bought out his contract. He finished the season in Finland, playing for Jokerit, which he considered a much more pleasant experience; he intended to return to North America for the 2016–17 season, most likely in the AHL, but eventually moved to Sweden, signing a one-year deal with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) on July 21, 2016. On December 15, 2016, he parted ways with the club, due to a combination of injuries and the birth of his son back in the United States. He was released from his contract in December 2016 and was claimed on waivers by the Charlotte Checkers. The Checkers. after conversing with Kennedy, then dropped their claim and allowed Kennedy to sign with the Americans, allowing him to be closer to his family.