Cliff Pu
Cliff Pu - London Knights.jpg
Pu with the London Knights in 2016
Born (1998-06-03) June 3, 1998
North York, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Center
Shoots Right
KHL team
Former teams		 Kunlun Red Star
Charlotte Checkers
Springfield Thunderbirds
Cleveland Monsters
NHL Draft 69th overall, 2016
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2018–present

Clifford "Cliff" Pu (born June 3, 1998) is a Canadian professional Ice hockey forward who is currently playing with Kunlun Red Star in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was selected 69th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres.[1]

Playing career

Youth

Pu played at the AAA hockey level since the Atom age group. He was named an International Silverstick Atom AAA All Star in 2009. In his final year of minor ice hockey, he played for the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA team. He was seen as one of the top prospects in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection after finishing 4th on his team in points.[2]

Junior

Pu was drafted in the 1st round, 16th overall, in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection by the Oshawa Generals.[3] He appeared in 17 games with the Generals, scoring 2 goals and adding an assist.[4] On January 1, 2015, Pu was traded to the London Knights along with Josh Sterk and 3 draft picks, in exchange for Michael McCarron and Dakota Mermis.[5] In the 24 games he appeared in for the London Knights following the trade, Pu scored 4 goals and added 2 assists.

In his first complete season with the Knights, Pu scored 12 goals and 19 assists. In the following season, he greatly improved on his totals, leading the Knights in regular season scoring.[6] On January 3, 2018, the Knights traded Pu to the Kingston Frontenacs for Nathan Dunkley and draft picks.[7]

Professional

In 2016, Cliff Pu became eligible for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He was the eighty-third ranked North American skater by the NHL's Scouting Service.[8] He was drafted in the third round, 69th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres. On October 23, 2017, Pu signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres.[9]

Pu was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on August 2, 2018, along with future draft picks (2nd-round (2019), and a 3rd-round and a 6th-round (2020)) in exchange for forward Jeff Skinner.[10]

After attending the Hurricanes 2018 training camp, Pu was assigned to begin the 2018–19 season, with Carolina's AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers. Pu struggled to translate his offensive game to the professional level and was re-assigned to ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades, on February 9, 2019. After scoring at a point-per-game through 5 appearances with the Everblades, Pu was returned to the AHL. Having contributed with 1 goal and 6 points in 44 games with Charlotte, Pu was traded by the Hurricanes to the Florida Panthers in exchange for future considerations, which correlated with the Checkers acquisition of Tomas Jurco, on February 25, 2019.[11]

On October 8, 2020, Pu was traded for the third time during his entry-level contract by the Panthers to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Markus Nutivaara.[12]

With his contract concluded with the Blue Jackets, Pu was not tendered a qualifying offer and was released as a free agent. On August 13, 2021, with limited opportunity in North America, Pu embarked on a European career in agreeing to a one-year contract with Austrian based club, Vienna Capitals of the ICEHL.[13]

Personal life

Pu was born in North York, Ontario and was raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Toronto Marlboros GTMMHL 33 23 24 47 10 16 4 13 17 4
2014–15 Oshawa Generals OHL 17 2 1 3 2 — — — — —
2014–15 London Knights OHL 24 2 4 6 2 5 0 0 0 0
2015–16 London Knights OHL 63 12 19 31 24 18 8 5 13 6
2016–17 London Knights OHL 63 35 51 86 36 14 2 5 7 8
2017–18 London Knights OHL 36 16 29 45 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Kingston Frontenacs OHL 29 13 26 39 6 15 4 13 17 6
2018–19 Charlotte Checkers AHL 44 1 5 6 10 — — — — —
2018–19 Florida Everblades ECHL 5 2 3 5 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 9 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 10 0 2 2 4 — — — — —
2019–20 Greenville Swamp Rabbits ECHL 4 1 5 6 2 — — — — —
2020–21 Cleveland Monsters AHL 16 3 7 10 6 — — — — —
2021–22 Kunlun Red Star KHL 15 3 3 6 6 — — — — —
2022–23 Kunlun Red Star KHL 41 11 9 20 34 — — — — —
AHL totals 79 5 15 20 20 — — — — —
KHL totals 56 14 12 26 40 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada Black U17 7th 5 1 0 1 2
Junior totals 5 1 0 1 2

References

  1. ↑ "OHL Network". www.ontariohockeyleague.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  2. ↑ "Cliff Pu". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "OHL Network". www.ontariohockeyleague.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  4. ↑ "London Knights". londonknights.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  5. ↑ "Knights Trade McCarron and Mermis to Oshawa | (CFPL AM) AM 980". Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  6. ↑ "London Knights". londonknights.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  7. ↑ "London Knights trade Cliff Pu to Kingston Frontenacs". lfpress.ca. 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  8. ↑ "2016 Draft Prospect Rankings". www.nhl.com. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sabres sign Pu to entry-level contract". NHL.com. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ Williams, Terrell (August 2, 2018). "Canes Deal Skinner to Sabres for Picks, Prospect". NHL.com. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Florida Panthers acquire Forward Cliff Pu from Hurricanes". Florida Panthers. February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  12. ↑ "CBJ acquire Cliff Pu from Florida in exchange for Markus Nutivaara". Columbus Blue Jackets. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Cliff Pu signs with Capitals" (in German). Vienna Capitals. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
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