Joseph LaBate

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

LaBate played for the Academy of Holy Angels's men's ice hockey team in high school, tallying 58 points in 25 games.^[2]

After three seasons in high school hockey, the Vancouver Canucks used their fourth round pick, 101 overall, to select LaBate in the 2011 NHL entry draft.^[3][4] He soon moved on to college hockey, playing for the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA. LaBate shifted from wing to center in his junior season at Wisconsin and skated in all 37 games for the Badgers.

He scored a career-high 11 goals with 11 assists and was -3 with 22 penalty minutes. After four seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers, he signed a contract with the Canucks. He was sent down to the Utica Comets and posted his first professional career goal against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after a gruesome fight with Samuel Morin.^[5] He participated in the Canucks 2016–17 preseason games, posting a goal, but was eventually sent down to the Comets.^[6]

On November 21, he was recalled to the NHL for the first time in his career.^[7] He made his NHL debut two days later, on November 23, 2016, logging 5:55 minutes of ice time in a 4–1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes.^[8] He played 13 total games with the Canucks. Following the 2017–18 season, and after his third full season within the Canucks organization, LaBate became a free agent after he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the club. On August 20, 2018, LaBate secured a one-year AHL contract with the Belleville Senators, affiliate of the Ottawa Senators.^[9]

Labate left the Belleville Senators following the 2020–21 season, his third year with the club, and continued his career in the AHL by signing a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Admirals on July 29, 2021.^[10] In the following 2021–22 season, LaBate added a veteran presence to the Admirals forward group, adding 5 goals and 12 points through 56 regular season games. He appeared in a career-high 9 playoff games, adding 2 points.

As a free agent from the Admirals, LaBate was signed to a one-year contract with defending Calder Cup champions, the Chicago Wolves, on July 18, 2022, where he totaled 22 points in 53 games.^[11]

After 8 professional seasons in North America, LaBate signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with Kazakh-based club, Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on July 4, 2023.^[12] Initially slotted as Barys first-line center, LaBate concluded the season notching 18 points through 49 regular season contests.

Returning to North America as a free agent, LaBate was belatedly signed to a PTO leading into the 2024–25 season, with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, the primary affiliate to the Columbus Blue Jackets, on October 8, 2024.^[13] Two months into the season on November 29, 2024, LaBate was signed to a one-year, two-way NHL for the remainder of the season with the Blue Jackets.^[14]

On July 1, 2025, Labate signed a one year, two-way contract returning to his original NHL club, the Vancouver Canucks.^[15]

LaBate described himself as:^[16]

I would say that I am somewhere in the middle at this point of my career. But I am honestly putting a large emphasis on becoming a more physical player. I am working on the physical aspect of the game, and watching David Backes [who I referred to as a player that he has been compared to] play, you can tell that he plays with a physical edge on the ice. That's something that I'm trying to incorporate into my game. I skated with Ryan Malone this past summer, and I have started watching more of his stuff as well.