Brendan Lemieux Bio
Brendan Lemieux is an American-Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who currently plays for HC Davos in the Swiss National League. Born on March 15, 1996, in Denver, Colorado, Lemieux has built a professional career that has taken him through multiple National Hockey League (NHL) organizations, including the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, and Carolina Hurricanes. Selected 31st overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, he is widely recognized as a physical, agitator-style forward who carries on the tough, competitive legacy of his famous father, former NHL player Claude Lemieux.
Early Life and Background
Brendan Lemieux was born on March 15, 1996, in Denver, Colorado, where his father Claude was at the time playing for the Colorado Avalanche. He was named after his father’s former New Jersey Devils teammate, Brendan Shanahan. As the oldest son of Claude Lemieux and his second wife, Deborah, Brendan grew up in a deeply hockey-oriented household and was a childhood friend of Wayne Gretzky’s children. Claude initially tried to steer his son away from the sport, concerned about the pressures that come with being the son of a famous NHL veteran, but he relented once he saw Brendan’s natural talent and early love for the game.
From a young age, Lemieux played both ice hockey and baseball, showing the competitive drive that would later define his professional career. In 2008 and 2009, he participated in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament representing the Lemieux Academy team out of Phoenix, Arizona. He later played minor ice hockey with the Toronto Red Wings of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), a team coached by his father, and attended The Hill Academy, an independent Ontario-based high school designed for student-athletes seeking to balance academics with elite sports training.
Path to Hockey
Lemieux’s path to professional hockey began in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Green Bay Gamblers in 2012, where he committed to two seasons before planning to attend the University of North Dakota. However, his course changed when the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) selected him in the fourth round, 69th overall, of the 2012 OHL Priority Selection. Opting to pursue a major junior career, Lemieux left Green Bay after just 11 games and joined the Colts, where his physical, high-tempo style quickly made him a polarizing prospect.
During his rookie OHL season, Lemieux played in 42 games, recording six goals and 14 points while racking up 52 penalty minutes. He received an eight-game suspension in December 2012 for an illegal check on Roland McKeown of the Kingston Frontenacs, a hit that left McKeown with a separated shoulder. In his second season with Barrie, Lemieux was elevated to a top-six forward role. He scored his first hat-trick on November 13, 2013, in a 7-1 win over the Sudbury Wolves, and represented the Colts alongside Aaron Ekblad at the 2014 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. He finished the year with 27 goals and 53 points in 65 regular-season games, climbing NHL Central Scouting rankings from No. 35 to No. 25 by season’s end.
Brendan Lemieux Career
Early Career (2014-2016)
After being selected 31st overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Lemieux was returned to Barrie for the 2014-15 OHL season, where he served as one of four alternate captains. On February 11, 2015, he was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him, Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, and a first-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, and Jason Kasdorf. Lemieux finished that OHL season with 41 goals and 60 points in 57 games, then signed a three-year, entry-level contract worth $3.375 million with the Jets on July 3, 2015, while also setting a franchise record with 25 power-play goals.
The Jets assigned Lemieux to Barrie for the 2015-16 season, his final year of junior eligibility. After just 11 games, he was traded to the Windsor Spitfires on December 10, 2015. He was named OHL Player of the Month for December after collecting 12 goals and six assists in nine games, and on January 24, 2016, he scored his 100th OHL goal in a 5-3 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Between Barrie and Windsor, Lemieux recorded 32 goals and 62 points in 45 regular-season games and finished his junior career with 106 goals, 189 assists, and 295 points across four OHL seasons.
NHL Breakthrough (2017-2019)
Lemieux began his professional career with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2016, but earned his first NHL call-up on October 17, 2017, replacing an injured Adam Lowry on the Jets’ roster. He made his NHL debut on October 20, 2017, in a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild, and recorded his first NHL goal on October 30 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, beating the goaltender on a slapshot during a 7-1 rout. His first NHL fight came three days later against Gemel Smith of the Dallas Stars, a bout Lemieux won decisively.
After splitting time between Winnipeg and Manitoba in 2017-18, Lemieux made the Jets’ opening-night roster for the 2018-19 season. He recorded nine goals and two assists in 44 games while playing primarily on the team’s fourth line. On February 25, 2019, the Jets traded him to the New York Rangers, along with a first-round pick, in exchange for Kevin Hayes. With the Rangers, Lemieux produced his first Gordie Howe hat trick on March 11, 2019, scoring a goal, adding an assist, and fighting Jujhar Khaira of the Edmonton Oilers. He finished the 2018-19 season with 12 goals and five assists across 63 combined regular-season games.
Los Angeles Kings Era (2021-2023)
After splitting the 2019-20 and pandemic-shortened 2020-21 seasons between the Rangers’ lineup and the press box, Lemieux was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on March 29, 2021, in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. After clearing COVID-19 protocols, he joined the Kings in early April and recorded two goals and four points in 18 games to close out the season. In 2021-22, Lemieux became a regular on Los Angeles’s lower offensive lines, but his season was disrupted on November 27, 2021, when Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk accused him of twice biting his hand during a scrum. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed Lemieux a five-game suspension, and the incident made Brendan and Claude Lemieux the first father-son duo in NHL history to each be suspended for biting.
On July 13, 2022, the Kings re-signed Lemieux to a one-year, $1.35 million contract for the 2022-23 season. However, on March 3, 2023, Los Angeles traded him and a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Zack MacEwen. His time in Philadelphia was short, and on July 11, 2023, he signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent.
HC Davos Era (2024-Present)
On March 11, 2024, Lemieux signed a one-year, $775,000 contract extension with the Hurricanes. Through the first two months of the 2024-25 season, he did not appear in any NHL games and was held pointless across 12 AHL contests with the Chicago Wolves. On December 6, 2024, at his request, Carolina placed him on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Three days later, on December 9, 2024, Lemieux signed a three-year contract with Swiss National League club HC Davos, beginning the next chapter of his professional career overseas.
Driving Style and Strengths
While ice hockey forwards are not typically described by the term “driving style,” Brendan Lemieux has built his reputation as a physical, agitator-style winger who thrives on forechecking, winning battles along the boards, and drawing penalties from opponents. He has modeled his game after his father Claude, a notorious pest during his own NHL career, and credits Claude as his biggest role model on and off the ice. During the 2019-20 season with the Rangers, Lemieux drew 19 penalties from opposing teams while taking only seven of his own, illustrating his effectiveness at coaxing opponents into mistakes. Some sportswriters have noted that his focus on physical play has occasionally come at the expense of offensive production, but his ability to shift momentum and protect teammates, particularly younger linemates, has remained a central part of his value.
Notable Events and Milestones
One of the most memorable events of Lemieux’s career came on November 27, 2021, when he was accused of biting Brady Tkachuk during a game against the Ottawa Senators, earning a five-game suspension and creating a league-wide talking point. Earlier in his career, he scored his first NHL goal on October 30, 2017, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, recorded his first hat-trick in the OHL on November 13, 2013, against the Sudbury Wolves, and notched his 100th OHL goal on January 24, 2016, against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He also represented Canada at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, where he won a gold medal and scored in the final against the United States.
Brendan Lemieux Career Wins
Brendan Lemieux’s career is defined less by personal trophy counts and more by his contributions to team success at multiple levels. His most notable victory came internationally, when he won a gold medal with Canada at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, scoring a goal in the championship game against the United States. In the OHL, he helped the Barrie Colts and Windsor Spitfires make deep postseason runs, and in the NHL he has been a steady complementary presence on the lower lines of several playoff-caliber rosters.
NHL and International Highlights
Across the NHL, Lemieux has recorded goals and points for the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, and Carolina Hurricanes, with his strongest offensive NHL season coming in 2019-20, when he posted career highs of six goals and 18 points in 59 games for the Rangers. Internationally, his standout moment remains the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament gold medal with Team Canada, where he contributed one goal and one assist in five games, including the game-winning tally in the 4-0 final against the United States.
Other Wins and Performances
In the OHL, Lemieux was a consistent offensive contributor for the Barrie Colts and Windsor Spitfires, including a 41-goal, 60-point season in 2014-15 that helped pave the way for his NHL contract. In the AHL, he was a productive scorer for the Manitoba Moose and Chicago Wolves, including a 19-goal, 43-point campaign with Manitoba in 2017-18, and he appeared in eight games of the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs.
Brendan Lemieux Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Brendan Lemieux comes from one of hockey’s most recognizable family trees. He is the son of Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and former NHL forward, and the nephew of Jocelyn Lemieux, who was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. The Lemieux family is of Canadian heritage, and although Brendan was born in Denver, Colorado, he holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Canada. Both Brendan and his father Claude share the nickname “Pepe,” a playful pun on their surname and the cartoon character Pepe Le Pew.
Personal Life
In addition to his younger sister Claudia, Brendan has two half-siblings from his father’s previous marriage. He has credited his father as his biggest role model on and off the ice, and the two have shared several notable career parallels, including their status as the first father-son duo in NHL history to each be suspended for biting an opponent. Details about Brendan’s marital status, spouse, or children have not been publicly confirmed.
2025 Season Performance
Following his December 2024 move to HC Davos of the Swiss National League, Brendan Lemieux entered the 2025 calendar year as a member of one of Europe’s most storied hockey clubs. After spending the early portion of the 2024-25 season in the Carolina Hurricanes organization and the AHL with the Chicago Wolves without an NHL appearance, his transfer to Davos represented a fresh start and a chance to reignite his professional trajectory in a new league. HC Davos, a four-time Swiss champion, offered Lemieux an opportunity to play a meaningful role on a contending roster while also embracing the European hockey lifestyle.
Through the early months of 2025, Lemieux’s tenure with Davos was expected to follow the same physical, agitator identity that defined his North American career. His three-year contract gave the club a veteran, energy-line forward capable of protecting teammates and shifting momentum with aggressive play. The Swiss National League, which is known for its skilled skating and tactical structure, presented a new stylistic challenge for a player whose game has historically been built on physicality and forechecking intensity.
Looking ahead, the rest of 2025 represents a critical stretch for Lemieux as he works to establish himself as a reliable contributor for Davos while showcasing that his style of play can translate to the international game. With multi-year job security in Switzerland and the support of a proud franchise, the upcoming season offers Lemieux a chance to redefine the next phase of his professional journey.