Curtis Valk

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| name = Curtis Valk

| image =

| image_size = 230px

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1993|02|08}}

| birth_place = Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 9

| weight_lb = 170

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| league = KHL

| team = Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

| prospect_league =

| prospect_team =

| ntl_team = KAZ

| former_teams = Florida Panthers
Barys Nur-Sultan

| draft = Undrafted

| career_start = 2014

| career_end =

}}

Curtis Valk ({{langx|kk|Кертис Вэлк}}; born February 8, 1993) is a Kazakh Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He is currently playing with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has formerly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Florida Panthers.

Playing career

Valk played major junior hockey for his hometown team, the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Valk, who played in the WHL from the 2010–11 season, was rewarded for his outstanding performance during the 2012–13 WHL season by being named to the 2013 WHL East First All-Star Team.{{cite web |url=http://www.whl.ca/article/2013-whl-west-all-stars-award-finalists |title=WHL Eastern Conference All-Star Teams |publisher=Western Hockey League |date=March 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323220330/http://whl.ca/article/2013-whl-west-all-stars-award-finalists |archivedate=March 23, 2013 |df=mdy }}

As an undrafted free agent embarking on his first professional season, Valk was invited to participate in the Vancouver Canucks 2014 training camp on September 21, 2014. He was later demoted to AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, where he signed a one-year contract on October 10, 2014. He was immediately re-assigned to ECHL affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings to begin the 2014–15 season.{{cite web | url = http://www.uticacomets.com/mallet-fox-and-valk-assigned-to-kalamazoo/ | title = Mallet, Fox and Valk assigned to Kalamazoo | publisher = Utica Comets | date = 2014-10-10 | accessdate = 2014-10-10 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20141014234819/http://www.uticacomets.com/mallet-fox-and-valk-assigned-to-kalamazoo/ | archivedate = October 14, 2014 | df = mdy-all }}

On July 1, 2017, Valk signed as a free agent to a one-year, entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.{{cite web| url = https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/florida-panthers-agree-to-terms-with-five-players/c-290264930 | title = Florida Panthers agree to terms with five players | publisher = Florida Panthers | date=July 1, 2017| accessdate=July 1, 2017}} During training camp, Valk was re-assigned by the Panthers to begin the 2017–18 season with AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.{{cite web| url = https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/springfield-thunderbirds-to-open-training-camp-on-friday-sept-22/c-291229068 | title = Thunderbirds to open training camp on Sept 22 | publisher = Florida Panthers | date=September 21, 2017 | accessdate=September 21, 2017}} Through the first 16 games of the season, Valk impressed to lead the team in scoring with 15 points. On November 13, 2017, he received his first recall by the Panthers to the NHL,{{cite web| url = https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/florida-panthers-recall-forward-curtis-valk-from-springfield-ahl/c-292931478 | title = Florida Panthers recall forward Curtis Valk from Springfield | publisher = Florida Panthers | date = 2017-11-13 | accessdate = 2017-11-13}} and made his NHL debut on November 14, 2017.{{cite web|title=Former K-Wing Curtis Valk makes NHL debut with Florida Panthers|url=http://www.mlive.com/kwings/index.ssf/2017/11/former_k-wing_curtis_valk_make.html|website=MLive.com|accessdate=November 27, 2017|date=November 15, 2017}} After a solitary game with the Panthers, Valk was returned to the Thunderbirds and played out the season in collecting a career best 62 points in 73 games.

As a restricted free agent with the Panthers, Valk opted to pause his North American career in signing a one-year contract with Kazakhstani club, Barys Astana of the KHL on July 3, 2018.{{cite web| url = http://hcbarys.kz/news/item/kyortis-vok-novichok-barysa/ | title = Curtis Volk a newcomer to Barys | publisher = Barys Astana | date = 2018-07-03 | accessdate = 2018-07-03 | language = Russian}}

Following four seasons with Barys, Valk as a dual Kazakhstani citizen left to sign a two-year contract to continue in the KHL with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg on May 1, 2022.{{cite web| url = https://www.hc-avto.ru/news/6969/ | title = Avtomobilist sign four to contracts | publisher = Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | date = 1 May 2022 | accessdate = 1 May 2022 | language = Russian}}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

2009–10

| Brooks Bandits

| AJHL

| 2

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2009–10

| Medicine Hat Tigers

| WHL

| 4

| 0

| 2

| —

2010–11

| Medicine Hat Tigers

| WHL

| 56

| 8

| 9

| 17

| 19

| 15

| 1

| 4

| 5

| 6

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2011–12

| Medicine Hat Tigers

| WHL

| 67

| 24

| 31

| 55

| 35

| 8

| 6

| 4

| 10

| 4

2012–13

| Medicine Hat Tigers

| WHL

| 71

| 46

| 45

| 91

| 54

| 8

| 3

| 2

| 5

| 4

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2013–14

| Medicine Hat Tigers

| WHL

| 72

| 47

| 45

| 92

| 36

| 18

| 12

| 9

| 21

| 10

2014–15

| Kalamazoo Wings

| ECHL

| 31

| 11

| 19

| 30

| 12

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2014–15

| Utica Comets

| AHL

| 1

| 0

| —

2015–16

| Utica Comets

| AHL

| 12

| 2

| 4

| 6

| 2

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2015–16

| Kalamazoo Wings

| ECHL

| 30

| 16

| 17

| 33

| 14

| —

2016–17

| Utica Comets

| AHL

| 75

| 16

| 30

| 46

| 49

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2017–18

| Springfield Thunderbirds

| AHL

| 73

| 20

| 42

| 62

| 41

| —

2017–18

| Florida Panthers

| NHL

| 1

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2018–19

| Barys Astana

| KHL

| 50

| 9

| 18

| 27

| 32

| 12

| 1

| 6

| 7

| 6

2019–20

| Barys Nur-Sultan

| KHL

| 52

| 7

| 12

| 19

| 10

| 5

| 1

| 2

| 4

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2020–21

| Barys Nur-Sultan

| KHL

| 59

| 9

| 20

| 29

| 67

| 3

| 1

| 2

2021–22

| Barys Nur-Sultan

| KHL

| 47

| 12

| 29

| 41

| 16

| 5

| 1

| 3

| 4

| 2

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2022–23

| Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

| KHL

| 56

| 14

| 25

| 39

| 26

| 7

| 4

| 6

| 10

| 8

2023–24

| Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

| KHL

| 60

| 8

| 20

| 28

| 15

| 1

| 6

| 7

| 14

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2024–25

| Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

| KHL

| 17

| 3

| 6

| 10

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 1

! 0

! —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | KHL totals

! 341

! 62

! 127

! 189

! 47

! 9

! 23

! 32

! 36

=International=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em"

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Year

! Team

! Event

! Result

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

2020

| Kazakhstan

| OGQ

| DNQ

| 3

| 0

| 3

| 0

style="background:#f0f0f0;"

| 2021

| Kazakhstan

| WC

| 10th

| 7

| 1

| 4

| 5

| 2

2022

| Kazakhstan

| WC

| 14th

| 7

| 1

| 2

| 3

| 0

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="4" | Senior totals

! 17

! 2

! 9

! 11

! 2

Awards and honours

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

| colspan="3" | WHL

First All-Star Team

| 2012–13

| {{cite web | url = http://www.whl.ca/article/2013-whl-east-all-stars-award-finalists | title = 2013 WHL East All Stars & Award | publisher = Western Hockey League | date = 2013-04-02 | accessdate = 2013-04-02 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20130323001912/http://www.whl.ca/article/2013-whl-east-all-stars-award-finalists | archivedate = March 23, 2013 | df = mdy-all }}

Second All-Star Team

| 2013–14