| Birth date | May 4, 1995 (age 31) |
|---|---|
| Birth place | Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft |
| Height in | 0 |
| Weight lb | 179 |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Right |
| League | Slovak |
| Team | HKM Zvolen |
| Former teams | Utica Comets Grizzlys Wolfsburg Belleville Senators WBS Penguins Cleveland Monsters Södertälje SK San Jose Barracuda Avangard Omsk CSKA Moscow |
| Draft (2013) | 85th overall |
| Draft team | Vancouver Canucks |
| Career start | 2015 |
Cole Cassels (born May 4, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey centre who plays for HKM Zvolen of the Slovak Extraliga.
Playing career
With early years spent with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, he played junior ice hockey for the Oshawa Generals, winning the Memorial Cup with the team in 2015. He was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (85th overall) in 2013. He signed an entry-level contract with the Canucks in 2013.[1]
At the conclusion of his rookie contract with the Canucks having played exclusively with American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets, Cassels was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Canucks and was free to pursue free agency on June 25, 2018.[2]
On July 31, 2018, Cassels signed his first contract abroad, agreeing to a one-year deal with German outfit, Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the DEL.[3] In his only season with the Grizzlys in 2018–19, Cassels registered 23 points through 50 games, before leaving at the conclusion of the regular season as a free agent on March 8, 2019.[4]
Approaching the 2019–20 season, he returned to the AHL in attending the Belleville Senators training camp. Upon his release from Belleville, Cassels resumed his North American career, agreeing to a contract with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL on October 2, 2019.[5] He played 7 games with the Grizzlies, amassing 10 points before he returned to Belleville on a professional tryout contract on November 1, 2019.[6] Cassels made 24 appearances with Belleville, contributing with 3 goals and 8 points, before leaving for fellow AHL club, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in securing an AHL contract for the remainder of the season on January 4, 2020.[7]
At the conclusion of his contract with the Penguins, Cassels as a free agent opted to continue within the Senators organization, returning to Belleville on a one-year AHL contract on October 29, 2020.[8]
On July 30, 2021, Cassels extended his career in the AHL, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Cleveland Monsters, affiliate to the Columbus Blue Jackets.[9]
As a free agent from the Monsters organization, Cassels left for Europe for the second time in his career, agreeing to a one-year contract with Swedish club, Södertälje SK of the HockeyAllsvenskan on July 26, 2022.[10] Cassels registered just 2 assists through 13 games to start the 2022–23 season with Södertälje SK, before opting to leave Sweden and return to the AHL in signing a one-year contract for a second stint with the Belleville Senators on November 2, 2022.[11]
On September 12, 2023, Cassels continued his career in the AHL by moving as a free agent to the San Jose Barracuda on a one-year contract.[12] In the 2023–24 season, Cassels was amongst the Barracuda's offensive leaders in posting 11 goals and 45 points through 67 regular season games as the club missed out on the post-season.
At the conclusion of his contract with the Barracuda, Cassels opted to leave the AHL in securing a one-year contract with Russian club, Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), on May 16, 2024.[13] Registering just 5 points through 33 games in the 2024–25 season with Avangard, Cassels was traded to HC CSKA Moscow in exchange for Konstantin Okulov on December 25, 2024.[14] He played out the remainder of the season with CSKA, before opting for a mutual release from the remaining year of his contract on July 29, 2025.[15]
Personal life
Cassels is the son of former NHL player Andrew Cassels. Cole spent most of his childhood living in Dublin, Ohio. He was born in Hartford, when his father was a member of the Hartford Whalers.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2011–12 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 64 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 31 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2012–13 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 64 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 51 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 2013–14 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 61 | 24 | 49 | 73 | 90 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 16 | ||
| 2014–15 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 54 | 30 | 51 | 81 | 100 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 12 | ||
| 2015–16 | Utica Comets | AHL | 67 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Utica Comets | AHL | 66 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Utica Comets | AHL | 69 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 70 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | DEL | 50 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Utah Grizzlies | ECHL | 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Belleville Senators | AHL | 24 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 28 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Belleville Senators | AHL | 31 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Cleveland Monsters | AHL | 70 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Södertälje SK | Allsv | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Belleville Senators | AHL | 64 | 12 | 39 | 51 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | San Jose Barracuda | AHL | 67 | 11 | 34 | 45 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2024–25 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 33 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2024–25 | CSKA Moscow | KHL | 23 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| AHL totals | 486 | 58 | 151 | 209 | 294 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| KHL totals | 56 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Canada Ontario | U17 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Junior totals | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||
References
- ^ "Canucks sign Cole Cassels to entry-level contract". Vancouver Canucks. 2013-04-12. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
- ^ "Canucks make qualifying offers". Sportsnet.ca. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
- ^ "Cole Cassels completes squad" (in German). Grizzlys Wolfsburg. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ "Further personnel decisions taken by Wolfsburg" (in German). Grizzlys Wolfsburg. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ^ ECHL (October 2, 2019). "Utah announce player signing". Twitter. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ "Belleville signs Cassels to PTO". Belleville Senators. November 1, 2019. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ "Penguins sign forward Cole Cassels". Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. January 4, 2020. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
- ^ Belleville Senators (October 29, 2020). "Belleville sign three to one-year contracts". Twitter. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Monsters sign Cassels, Greaves and LeBlanc to AHL contracts". Cleveland Monsters. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ "Cole Cassels signs for SSK!" (in Swedish). Södertälje SK. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ "Belleville Sens sign Cole Cassels to AHL contract". Belleville Senators. November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ "Barracuda land Cassels". American Hockey League. September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ "Cole Cassels joins Avangard". Avangard Omsk. May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
- ^ "CSKA traded Konstantin Okulov for Cole Cassels" (in Russian). HC CSKA Moscow. December 25, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ "CSKA parts ways with Cole Cassels" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. July 29, 2025. Retrieved July 29, 2025.