Dainius Zubrus
Apr 04, 2008 | By Ben Chaisson | Players Articles Archive
Dainius Zubrus (born June 16, 1978 in Elektrėnai, Lithuanian SSR) is a Lithuanian professional ice hockey right winger and center, currently playing for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League.
NHL career
Born in Elektrėnai, the same city as fellow former NHL player Darius Kasparaitis. Dainius Zubrus was drafted 15th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers from the Caledon Canadians of the Metro Junior A Hockey League. As of the 2006 draft, Zubrus is the highest drafted Tier II Junior "A" player since the Canadian Junior A Hockey League's 1993 inception. Prior to being traded to Caledon, Zubrus played for the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Junior A Hockey League. He made his NHL debut on October 5, 1996, scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers. In his rookie season he helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup final. Like Kasparaitis, Dainius trained with Aleksey Nikiforov.
The Flyers traded him to the Montreal Canadiens on March 10, 1999, with a pair of draft picks, for Mark Recchi. He registered his first career hat-trick on October 14, 2000, against the Chicago Blackhawks, and was traded by the Canadiens to the Washington Capitals along with Trevor Linden for Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis on March 13, 2001.
Because of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Zubrus decided to play abroad with Washington Capitals teammate Alexander Semin. He played 42 regular season games for HC Lada Togliatti, tallying 19 points on 8 goals and 11 assists. He also appeared in 10 playoff games while in the Russian Super League, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist.
On February 27, 2007, Zubrus was traded to the Buffalo Sabres along with Timo Helbling for Jiri Novotny and a first round draft pick.
On July 3, 2007, Zubrus signed a 6-year $20.4 million dollar deal with the New Jersey Devils. He earns $3.4 million a season.
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1995-96 | Pembroke Lumber Kings | CJHL | 28 | 19 | 13 | 32 | 73 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995-96 | Caledon Canadians | MTJHL | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 4 | ||
| 1996-97 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 68 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 12 | ||
| 1997-98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 69 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 42 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 63 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 25 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 17 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 73 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 54 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 49 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2001-02 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 71 | 17 | 26 | 43 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 63 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 43 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2003-04 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 54 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | HC Lada Togliatti | RSL | 42 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 85 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 22 | ||
| 2005-06 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 71 | 23 | 34 | 57 | 84 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006-07 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 60 | 20 | 32 | 52 | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006-07 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 19 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||
| NHL Totals | 689 | 138 | 222 | 360 | 449 | 51 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 28 | ||||
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